How Imagination Makes Us Human -- Science of Us

Humans have incredible creative potential. Our ability for creating remarkable inventions like megacities or symphonies shows our capacity to imagine possibilities and make them happen.

Looking at history shows us that collaborative creativity was instrumental to our success in the past and the future.

Human creativity is our ability to move to and fro between the realms of "what is" and "what could be."
Creativity is a two-stage process:

• It's the ability to work through a challenge or an idea by imagining possible outcomes that are not immediately evident.
• It's the capacity to make that imagined outcome into a reality.

Creativity is not only about genius or limited to the work of original thinkers. Creativity appears from the interconnections of ideas, experiences, and imagination.

When we participate in an activity that involves our distinct human ability to imagine, create, or enjoy imagery, sound and sensations like poetry, music or carpentry, it stimulates cognitive and physiological processes that strengthen our creative abilities.

Our creative and collaborative actions have many beneficial outcomes, and we can try to use those to change or offset the negative.