A review by larryerick
Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

3.0

This book never excited me the way Lehrer's How We Decide did. It rarely was as concise or as powerful or as clear as the earlier book. On occasion, I felt he came to questionable conclusions on issues, primarily because I found it very easy to come up with alternative explanations for his findings. Moreover, I would change the subtitle from "How Creativity Works" to "How to Promote Innovation and Facilitate Problem-Solving", but maybe that's just my slant on what "creativity" means. Nevertheless, there are sections, especially during the later half of the book, that are well worth reading. Serious educators should read "The Shakespeare Paradox". For instance, he points out how American teachers show a preference for teaching students with less creative characteristics, because those with traits most closely aligned with creative thought were too hard to teach and under performed on standardized tests. He also points out how well we encourage talent in sports, but don't apply the same system for identifying and encouraging engineers or other non-sports talent.