Need To Get Creative? Take A Hike

Creativity can flow from many things and places, but a new study suggests that one reliable source is a place that’s far away from everything, especially iPhones. The Salt Lake Tribune reports on research conducted at the University of Utah that found that backpackers scored 50 percent better on a creativity test after four days in nature and away from smartphones, iPods and laptops. Here’s how it worked: the researchers sent 56 people on four- to six-day wilderness trips in Colorado, Maine, Alaska and Washington state. Twenty-four of the hikers took a 10-question creativity test the morning before they began the backpacking trip. Thirty-two took the test on the fourth morning of the trip. Scores after three nights in the wild were an average of 6.08 correct with a 4.14 average for those who took the test before the trip. David Strayer, a psychology professor and the lead author of the study, doesn’t say that humans get more creative in the wild; rather, he thinks we get less creative in the noise of urban life. “The constant bombardment of technology and urban life is draining the frontal portion of the brain,’ says Strayer. “It’s suppressing problem solving, decision making and creativity, When you get away from that hustle and bustle and out in nature, where it is soft and fascinating, your brain can replenish, become sharper and focus on thinking.” Read more in the Salt Lake Tribune. Read the study here.