Do you (and some your like-minded neighbors) think that some of your family members are crazy? Well, if your answer is yes, researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden have good news for you. Greater the degree of lunacy in your family (including yourself…), greater the chances of you, being creative. The new research conducted mentions, “High creative skills have been shown to be somewhat more common in people who have mental illness in the family.”
The study also mentions that creative people share certain psychological traits (e.g. ability to make bizarre associations) with schizophrenics due to Dopamine D2 receptor genes. Dr. Frederik Ullén and his research team basically studied the brain and the Dopamine D2 receptors. Dopamine receptor genes are linked to the ability for divergent thought. In the mentioned study, people who showed higher levels of creativity (divergent thinking) also showed a lower density of Dopamine D2 receptors in thalamus, which is also a trait commonly found among the schizophrenic. Thalamus (see the image) is that part of brain which filters and relays information before it reaches cortex, where cognition and reasoning take place. Lower density of D2 receptors means less filterning and a greater flow of information, which in turn increases the possibility of more bizarre associations and imaginations.
So if you’re crazy, you might be creative; and vice-versa!!! or in the words of Dr. Frederik Ullén, “Thinking outside the box might be facilitated by having a somewhat less intact box”.
Reference
de Manzano O, Cervenka S, Karabanov A, Farde L, & Ullén F (2010). Thinking outside a less intact box: thalamic dopamine D2 receptor densities are negatively related to psychometric creativity in healthy individuals. PloS one, 5 (5) PMID: 20498850
Microsoft Courier (courtsey : http://www.engadget.com)
Last Thursday several Gadget lovers mourned with deep pain when Engadget wrote about sad premature demise of Microsoft Courier. It kind of made almost every Microsoft Fan (Who are an absolute minority now) a bit sad. Rumours about Microsot developing a dual-screen tablet started last September, and soon it’s images and even videos were leaked out. Microsoft however never confirmed it officially, until it decided to scrap the project.
The question however is, why would Microsoft abandon such an interesting product? Before Apple launched iPad nobody was sure of utility or commercial appeal of a Tablet PC. However, Apple’s iPad is one of the most successful début products in our recent memory. In the very first month of it’s launch it has sold 1 Mn units. Vladislav Savov at Engadget writes, “Steve (Jobs) told us it’d be revolutionary, and if sales are the measure of a device’s success, then the iPad seems to be well on track to validating its creator’s bold claims.” Now when future of Tablet Computing was looking so rosy, why Microsoft abandoned something, that was already creating some excitement among Techies?
Microsoft Courier is an interesting case of a proactive exit. There is lot of academic work on Innovation and Innovation system however there is not sufficient research available on abandonment of innovations. As it’s important for companies to know, how and when to commit to an innovation, it’s equally important to know, when to abandon an innovation. Research suggests that a company might abandon to pursue a new product, in case (i) the market doesn’t move according to its expectations or (ii) the planned innovation is not strategically important for the company. I found another interesting explanation in an article by Sanjay Jain and Kamalini Ramdas (2005). Using examples from Videogame industry they elaborate on what they have termed as a pace keeping approach to product development. In Videogame consoles, the development cycle ranges from two to five years, whereas the development cycle for graphics processing unit (GPU), which is a core underlying technology, takes about six months. In an industry like this, where core technology evolves much faster than the product, at times it makes sense to abandon a new product development, just because it’s neither easy nor profitable to keep pace with rapidly advancing technology.
Going back to the Microsoft Courier, do we really believe that this was a reason? In this case, it seems more the problem of ‘Apps’ rather than core technology. After successful launch of iPad, most of the applications developers have strongly invested their efforts, energy and creativity in developing killer Apps for iPad. Any new Tablet, with a different platform than iPad, could face a temporary ‘Apps-Drought’. In an article in March, Fastcompany had predicted a similar outcome based on the same logic.
We don’t know, and probably would never know why Courier was shelved. Maybe Bill, The Gates has some other surprises up his sleeve. Maybe Microsoft just lost interest in Courier. Maybe it was just pure bureaucratic problem of ‘cost overruns’ etc etc. The bottomline is Courier will never be a reality. A dream, that never came true!
So here is a video of a wonder product, you never had!
References
(1) Agarwal, Rajshree; Bayus, Berry & Tripsas, Mary. 2005. ‘Abandoning Innovation in an Emerging Industry. ‘ Working Paper.
(2) Jain, S., K. Ramdas. 2005. Up or out—or stay put? Product positioning in an evolving technology environment. Production and Operations Management 14(3) 362–376.
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce - The inventor of Photography
World's first Camera up for exhibition in Macao
Right now in Macao, world’s oldest camera is on display in an exhibition. This reminded me of what I had read about Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Niépce was the inventor of photography.
However it’s interesting how he got the inspiration to invent photography. In those days, popular form of catching images was with “Camera Obscura”. Camera obscura was basically a box with hole on one side of the box. So through passing of the light, the image in front of the hole would get reflected on a thin paper on the opposite side of the hole. Once this image was reflected on the paper, the person (or ‘photographer’) was required to trace the image with the help of a pencil. This is what Niépce couldn’t do. He didn’t have a steady hand. Since he couldn’t draw, he had to find some other way to be able to take photographs.
View from the window at Le Gras, 1827. The first photograph ever....
He tried to look for alternatives where he wouldn’t be required to use his hand. He experimented with lithography – a method for printing using metal plate or stone. He replaced the thin paper in the ‘Camera Obscura’ with a metal plate. After experimenting with different metals and chemical coatings he finally produced the first photograph on a highly polished pewter plate, coated with bitumen. After an eight hour exposure in the camera, the plate was washed in a mixture of oil of lavender and white petroleum to produce the first permanent positive image. Here on the left, you can see the image. By the way, Niépce had termed this a ‘Heliograph’, recognising the power of the sun. (source)
I recently came across this very interesting contest organized by Gonzo labs, and I sincerely regret not having participated in it. But well, I have a year more to do my best.
I found the idea of the contest and the performance of the contestants extremely creative. The idea was scientific researchers in any discipline, were supposed to choreography based on their research and perform it. They all were supposed to upload their videos on youtube and wait for results. The results are very interesting and extremely creative. In one of my earlier posts I had talked about the idea of “Expressive Creativity”, as explained by Dr. Pradip Khandwalla in his books. Expressing complicated scientific research through choreography and dance, indeed is a great example of “Expressive Creativity”. In his book, “Lifelong Creativity”, Dr. Khandwalla cites, work done by Francis Hare, where he posits that “…aesthetic behaviour is triggered by perceived complexity.” (P. 105)
Obviously, nothing can be more complex than a research project on role of Vitamin D in beta-cell function. However, Sue Lynn Lau, was creative enough to translate this complex research project into a nice choreography. He in fact, is the winner of the AAAS Dance contest. More vidoes you can watch here.
References:
Khandwalla, Pradip N., 2003, Lifelong Creativity: An Unending Quest, McGraw-Hill Publishing India.
Hare, Francis. G., 1973, “Experimental Aesthetics : The Expressive and Responsive Artist”, Educational Trends, Vol.8 (1-4), 1973, pp. 49-59.
psychological traits (e.g. ability to make bizarre associations) with schizophrenics due to Dopamine D2 receptor genes. Dr. Frederik Ullén and his research team basically studied the brain and the Dopamine D2 receptors. Dopamine receptor genes are linked to the ability for divergent thought. In the mentioned study, people who showed higher levels of creativity (divergent thinking) also showed a lower density of Dopamine D2 receptors in thalamus, which is also a trait commonly found among the schizophrenic. Thalamus (see the image) is that part of brain which filters and relays information before it reaches cortex, where cognition and reasoning take place. Lower density of D2 receptors means less filterning and a greater flow of information, which in turn increases the possibility of more bizarre associations and imaginations.
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