Why smart people stop having original ideas | Moshe Bar, Ph.D. | TEDxInnovation Drive

Cognitive neuroscientist Moshe Bar examines why creativity often becomes hidden by everyday cognitive habits. The talk explains how new ideas flow through the brain and mind, what hinders that flow, and why uncertainty can be treated as a resource rather than a threat. Bar, who works at Bar-Ilan University and Massachusetts General Hospital, presents this as a route to reclaiming the human capacity for innovation.

• How idea generation works in the brain and mind
• Cognitive habits that can hide creative capacity
• Uncertainty as a resource rather than a threat
• Speaker background: Moshe Bar, cognitive neuroscience research

Our ability to be creative is not lost, but it is often hidden by our cognitive habits. By explaining the flow of new ideas in the brain and in the mind, as well as what hinders it, and by showing why we should see uncertainty as a resource, rather than a threat, this talk demonstrates what it takes to reclaim our inherent capacity for innovation. Moshe is a cognitive neuroscientist at Bar-Ilan University and Massachusetts Hospital. He was previously the head of the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University and before that director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. His research focuses on various aspects of brain function, including memory, foresight, mental load, mind-wandering, mood, and creativity. He has published over 90 research articles, edited two scientific books and published the popular science book Mindwandering. His writing to the public has appeared in numerous platforms, including the New York Times and the WSJ. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx