6 unexpected signs of being creative

1. You're being sarcastic

While sarcasm is considered the most unpleasant form of wit, it requires a lot of mental strain. A Franco-American study found that participants in sarcastic conversations were able to increase their abstract thinking and creativity.

An additional conclusion that scientists have come to: sarcasm provokes a conflict between not very close people, but this does not happen with those who have established a trusting relationship. So you can safely troll your friends - this is only for the benefit of your creative side.

2. You are neurotic

Neuroticism (neuroticism) is not considered the most positive trait: it is characterized by emotional instability and anxiety. However, researchers from the United Kingdom and the United States note that this personality trait is also strongly associated with creativity and imagination.

What's the point? Roughly speaking, in order to constantly come up with threats, you need to have a good imagination.

3. You are in the clouds

Moshe Bar, a professor who has studied the wandering mind (a state where a person is absorbed in his thoughts, is not focused solely on the task or environment), notes that such a state involves many areas of the brain. And this is very useful for creativity.

It is interesting that the brain during "wanderings" continues to successfully cope with routine tasks. You are familiar with this if you have washed the dishes at least once.

4. You are easily distracted

In a sense, the opposite of the previous conclusion was made by American scientists. According to their research, creative people are more easily distracted by extraneous signals. Marcel Proust comes to mind as he locked himself in a corked room and put on earplugs to work in silence.

The researchers note that increased sensitivity can be useful for creators: with its help, they can feel the world more subtly. But at what cost!

5. You are open to different people and ideas

Collective intelligence researchers argue that innovation is not the product of talented individuals, but many. In other words, innovation occurs through communication and exchange of ideas.

One of the study's authors urges: if you want to be more creative, talk to people with whom you disagree.

You don't have to take these words literally. But if you are really willing to hear and listen to different opinions, you are probably more likely to create something breakthrough.

6. You trust your work to the unconscious

The less control you have over the creative process, the better the result. This is approximately the conclusion reached by scientists who monitored the work of the brain while drawing.

For their experiment, they asked subjects to graphically explain different words. The most creative works came from those who did not consciously influence the process.

"The activation of the brain's executive control centers - the zones that are responsible for planning, organizing and directing actions - is negatively associated with the creative implementation of the task," the researchers noted.

At the same time, the cerebellum, the region responsible for the coordination of movements, began to play an unexpectedly important role in the process. That is, more creative results were obtained by those who were involved in the creation of the drawing, and did not think about it.

See this list for even more signs of being creative. Check it out to know for sure.