Creativity is actually more than one thing, it happens in many different parts of your brain, and it is DEFINITELY NOT confined to the brain's right hemisphere. At Beautiful Minds, Scott Barry Kaufman talks about the complex processes that get glossed over in our pop-sci understanding of creative thinking. It's a good companion to the story I wrote here last week about why the idea of "fear" is also more complex than we give it credit for. Read the rest

Brandon Keim has an amazing feature up at Aeon Magazine, about the idea of animal consciousness — i.e., how animals think and feel and experience their own lives. After delving into the chimpanzee experience of death for a couple weeks, this story really grabbed my attention. Increasingly, it's an idea that scientists are paying more attention to, as well. Read the rest