The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric

From Scientific American | Mind:

Highly creative people often seem weirder than the rest of us. Now researchers know why.

In brief:

• People who are highly creative often have odd thoughts and behaviors—and vice versa.
• Both creativity and eccentricity may be the result of genetic variations that increase cognitive disinhibition—the brain’s failure to filter out extraneous information.
• When unfiltered information reaches conscious awareness in the brains of people who are highly intelligent and can process this information without being overwhelmed, it may lead to exceptional insights and sensations.

READ FULL ARTICLE>>

Temple Grandin’s TED Talk: “The world needs all kinds of minds!”

Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works — sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

ThinkShop’s Online Creative Thinking Workshop

(from Michelle Conrad of thinkshop.com)

Hosts:  ThinkShop Co-Founders Chris Fagan and Michelle Conrad facilitate live classes each week

Dates:  5 Wednesdays from June 22nd to July 20

Time:  12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST (11:00 am – 12:30 pm CST, 9:00 am – 10:30 am PST)

Format:  Interactive and visually rich online meetings are backed up by provocative homeplay assignments, an extensive manual loaded with creative exercises, and two drop-in calls where you can ask questions and learn from others in the Create On Purpose community.

Our early registration ends this Friday and the class begins on June 22nd.

Learn about the course: http://wp.me/pwprt-CY
Sign up: http://thinkshop.eventbrite.com

The World’s Last Hand-written Newspaper

From Lynn Kearny:

I thought members of this community would be charmed and intrigued by this 3-generation crusade to establish and maintain a newspaper put out every day using hand calligraphy. This is just one more face of what we do.

The last handwritten newspaper in the world: 

Sketchnotes from 99% Conference

(via @Ottmark)

Last week at The 99% Conference in NYC on creativity and productivity, Nashville-based media strategist Mark Ott spotted some folks in the crowd producing sketchnotes.

Turns out, he had spotted the talented folks from ImageThink. 

As they describe it…

Sketchnotes use the same real-time skill of listening, synthesizing, and visualizing as graphic recording. The difference is that, with Sketchnotes, this process happens in a sketchbook rather than on a large scale where the audience experiences the process live.  In both cases, the results live on digitally. 

Check out their work from the conference at http://www.blog.imagethink.net/

Alphachimp University: Countdown to Launch

After a fantastic week working together on a Doodles in Motion project in NYC, Diane and I are excited open up registration for the flagship course for Alphachimp University…

How to Become a Rockstar Scribe at School or Work
http://learntoscribe.com/

Last week, we were testing the sign up process (thanks to you) before going live. Without announcing anything–and much to our surprise–we already have two students register for the course!

Our first student, Joey in Chicago, found us on Google and registered before we even activated billing. Our second student, Brandy in South Carolina, signed up the moment we made mention on our blog.

But we have lots of work to do. This week, we begin our pre-launch campaign in earnest. Here's the rough outline:

(1) Alert the hundreds of people who have registered on our website to receive updates…
(2) Line up affiliate partners to promote the course and receive a percentage of the profits…
(3) Begin production of video content for all six modules…
(4) Setting up Google AdWord and Facebook Ad Campaigns…
(4) Trumpet to the world that pre-registration runs until May 19th!

The day of the launch, Alphachimp will be featured at a workshop with the Nashville chapter of ASTD (the American Society for Training & Development) to a captive audience of 100+ candidates for the course. see more >

So as we ramp up for LAUNCH… here's how you can help:

1. Add one of the taglines below to your blog or signature:

     Become a Rockstar scribe at school or work.
     Learn to scribe. Change the world.
     Alphachimp University set to launch!

….as well as the URL:

     http://www.learntoscribe.com

2. Post that link and mention us on your Facebook wall or Twitter feed.

3. MOST IMPORTANT: If you are planning to participate as a member of the course, log into http://learntoscribe.com/classroom/

… enter the Forum > Introduce Yourself
… click ADD NEW TOPIC
… title the topic [your name] and introduce yourself!

We really want to make this launch a huge success and need your love and support to make it happen.

Thanks to you all!

Yarn Graffiti Doc IndieGoGo

http://youtu.be/tOHOkW-87us

[via Laughing Squid] Filmmaker Sarah Gonzalez is producing a documentary on the whimsical phenomenon of yarn graffiti.

Yarn graffiti has been cropping up in cities around the world (we’ve recently posted about colorful yarn bombings on trains in Philadelphia and in the potholes of Paris.) Gonzalez is raising funds for the film on IndieGoGo.

Check out more at http://yarngraffitidocumentary.blogspot.com/

Arts as Healing

PHOTO: Dee Jacobs, Mary Collins, David Binks, Vicki Friedman, Lynn Sanderson

From Washington University in St. Louis:

A group of adults meets regularly in a room at the Center for Advanced Medicine (CAM) at Washington University Medical Center to learn how to shade with charcoals, master watercolor strokes, and mold and shape clay. These students may be rediscovering art after many years or learning techniques for the first time. But they also share another common bond — battling cancer.

To learn more about the Arts as Healing program and to view additional patient art, visit outlook.wustl.edu/2011/feb/arts.

Do you have a story of how graphic facilitation has helped individuals and communities heal?
Post in the comments below.