English #3: The science of imagination

I read this article from an IELTS book that I borrowed from the library. It is an interesting article about imagination. There are 40 new words 👀. First, I read the article without using Google Translate. I underlined every new word. Second, I translate new words into Vietnamese using Google Translate. Then, I read the article again, and this time I could understand the whole idea of the author. 

Below is my short summary.

It is widely agreed that intelligence tests only capture verbal and spatial reasoning. All of these traits belong to the left hemisphere (/ˈhem.ɪ.sfɪər/) of our brain. On the other hand, emotional, holistic (toan dien), and imaginative thinking are characteristic of the right hemisphere. In reality, both hemispheres work collectively in dealing with any one task.

Creative people are those who can think unexpected new thoughts and produce innovative concepts. There are 4 stages in the pattern of highly creative people:

1. Preparation, or Immersion: this stage involves deliberately instigating crazy ideas to provide the raw material for the mind. 
   
2. Incubation: This stage allows imagination and ideas to interweave subconsciously. There is something inside our mind but we can not point it out, can not name it. 
3. Illumination is when the insight and all of our thoughts burst forth (bump!) in our minds with wonderful clarity. It is an Aha moment. In the case of Mendeleev, sleep gave rise to his imagination, logically ordering all the chemical elements into the periodic table.
4. Recording is the last stage, that of recording ideas on paper, which requires the left hemisphere's strength. In this stage, ideas are written and easier for others to understand.

We think that creativity is a gift, just for some people. But we can learn to be more creative by consciously facilitating each of these stages: deliberately giving our imagination free rein, brain-storming, and sleeping on new ideas. I think that the most important thing is having more input for the first stage, by reading, observing, listening, and experiencing more and more. 

Modern education quite focuses on developing reasoning, verbal, and literacy skills, which are of supreme importance in this technological age. However, the non-verbal, holistic, emotional right hemisphere is necessary for innovation, as will be required if we are to cope with the rapid pace of change in the 21st century.