creativity in Scientific American

Sci Am has two articles out in their Scientific American Mind magazine that deal with creativity.  The first discusses the connection between creativity and eccentricity:

• People who are highly creative often have odd thoughts and behaviors—and vice versa.

• Both creativity and eccentricity may be the result of genetic variations that increase cognitive disinhibition—the brain’s failure to filter out extraneous information.

• When unfiltered information reaches conscious awareness in the brains of people who are highly intelligent and can process this information without being overwhelmed, it may lead to exceptional insights and sensations.

The second is a slideshow of ways to cultivate your creativity.  The slideshow discusses general exercises one can follow to encourage creative thinking.  It seems fine but a little more abstract than I prefer.  The slideshow is a little annoying in that for me, the image was low enough that i had to scroll down to see it all, for each and every slide.