[HN Gopher] Creative people enjoy idle time more than others: study
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       Creative people enjoy idle time more than others: study
        
       Author : shsachdev
       Score  : 53 points
       Date   : 2023-07-15 18:24 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (news.arizona.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (news.arizona.edu)
        
       | heinrichhartman wrote:
       | I am pretty sure the study is not able to distinguish causality
       | from coronation. To me, the reverse implication seems more
       | likely: Downtime makes you creative.
        
         | philipov wrote:
         | "People who enjoy idle time tend to be more creative" seems
         | like an equivalent statement. It doesn't have to imply
         | causality one way or the other. And I think the word you're
         | looking for is correlation, not coronation.
        
         | civilitty wrote:
         | _> I am pretty sure the study is not able to distinguish
         | causality from coronation._
         | 
         | It's sociology research. They wouldn't know their coronation
         | from their correlation.
        
           | jabradoodle wrote:
           | As opposed to which social sciences that do?
           | 
           | At least it isn't a neo liberal mouth piece like economics.
        
             | etrautmann wrote:
             | You're claiming the field of economics is liberal?
        
               | asimovfan wrote:
               | Isn't it?
        
         | fasthands9 wrote:
         | I feel like their study is pretty flimsy for many reasons - but
         | they had random people sit in a room with not much to do and
         | observed how productive they were.
         | 
         |  _If_ you assumed this was measuring something real, then your
         | implied causation doesnt make sense. Everyone was given equal
         | time.
        
         | JimtheCoder wrote:
         | "Downtime makes you creative."
         | 
         | I am not sure I agree with that.
         | 
         | Being creative is an act in itself, IMO. You're not sitting
         | around bored, and then a brilliant idea pops out...
        
           | waynesonfire wrote:
           | If you're too busy trying to put food on the table it leaves
           | little time to explorer, be creative, in ways that doesn't
           | move you up the needs pyramid, at least in the short term.
           | Or, just "busy" doing other shit. Indeed, downtime is
           | required for creativity.
           | 
           | At a workplace, if you've got super tight deadlines you don't
           | have much space to explorer ideas. That deadspace is vital to
           | produce better solutions. Assuming it's not wasted reading
           | HN.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | philipov wrote:
           | Downtime doesn't make you creative, but downtime gives you
           | space to be creative. Boredom is a critical ingredient in my
           | creativity, because when I'm bored, I find creative ways to
           | fill the boredom.
           | 
           | Boredom is the purest reservoir of intrinsic motivation one
           | can tap.
        
           | steve_adams_86 wrote:
           | No, but downtime might lead to people pursuing stimulating
           | activities and thoughts, which could necessitate creative
           | thinking.
           | 
           | I don't know which comes first. I'm not a creative person in
           | the slightest so I have no insights about it.
        
           | nicbou wrote:
           | Kind of? I do my best work during road trips, because I am
           | forced to be alone with my thoughts for hours on end. Ideas
           | just tend to float the surface if you don't muddle the
           | waters.
           | 
           | I deliberately integrate a bit of boredom into my work. I
           | force myself to let things rest until I figure out a better
           | design. I go on walks or have tea on the balcony to let good
           | ideas form.
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-15 23:02 UTC)