Divergent ideas come from the right brain

The left brain tends toward order, structure, analytical thinking. The right brain is the source of divergent ideas and breakthrough thinking.

What we know about divergent thinking is that it mostly happens in the more creative right hemisphere of the brain; that it taps into imagination and often triggers random association of ideas (which is a primary source of creativity); and that it can be intellectually stimulating and rewarding.

source: A More Beautiful Question – Berger (2014), ch. 1

As noted by Pink in A Whole New Mind, the previous era was dominated by those with strong “left brain” skills. While these are still needed, the future is going to be increasingly the domain of strong “right brain” skills:

Today, the defining skills of the previous era—the “left brain” capabilities that powered the Information Age—are necessary but no longer sufficient. And the capabilities we once disdained or thought frivolous—the “right-brain” qualities of inventiveness, empathy, joyfulness, and meaning—increasingly will determine who flourishes and who flounders.^[1]

These skills involve such things as detecting patterns, creating artistic beauty, and empathy:

High concept involves the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new. High touch involves the ability to empathize with others, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning.^[2]

#cognition #innovation-creativity #future