Instead, it is better to produce a prototype—a form of speculation—and see how people respond to it.

choose random words in a reference book and use them to guide the plot of a novel, according to the order and associations of the words.

the initial stages of learning a skill invariably involve tedium.

it is best to have wide knowledge of your field and other fields, giving your brain more possible associations and connections.

have to learn how to imagine more possibilities than we generally consider,

In subsequent work he was able to locate neurological damage to the part of their brains that create and control our sense of body image. This damage had occurred at birth, or very early on. This meant that the brain could create a body image in a perfectly healthy person that was highly irrational. It seemed as well that our sense of self is far

The sense of having enemies or doubters can serve as a powerful motivating device and fill you with an added creative energy and focus.

When we take our time and focus in depth, when we trust that going through a process of months or years will bring us mastery, we work with the grain of this marvelous instrument that developed over so many millions of years.

On the one hand, the mind tends to move away from this interconnectedness and focus instead on the distinctions between things, taking objects out of their contexts and analyzing them as separate entities.