E10. Does Rational Cognition Impede Creativity? (Spoiler: Yep, It Definitely Can)

Do you feel like you have to force creativity, or does it feel like it's harder than it should be? Are you struggling with blocks? It's possible the reason is that you have a habit of applying the rules of rational cognition to everything, and don't trust your intuitive/creative self. You're not alone! Most of us have this problem because we live in a society that prefers rational to intuitive cognition. We are taught to distrust and disregard knowledge and understanding that comes to us through non-rational means, which can block our creativity. We can support our creative selves by challenging some of the basic precepts of the rational approach, and in this episode I tell you how to start. I examine the relationship between intuitive cognition and creative thinking, how our overemphasis on rational cognition causes us to suppress creativity, and why we need to learn how to center ourselves in our creative practice and lean into our biases. The key message of this episode is that creativity doesn't have to be hard! I've only just begun to research this topic, and I'm excited about its implications for creative practice!

Find this episode's accompanying blog post here.

The paper on intuition and creativity that I cite can be found here.