Anthony Brandt

The Runaway Species

1. IDEA 1

   Humans constantly remake the world

   Eagleman, a neuroscientist, and Brandt, a composer, argue that humans are a runaway species, driven to create new things. They explain creativity as the brain's way of reworking what it already knows.

2. IDEA 2

   Creativity bends the familiar

   The authors describe bending, changing an existing idea's shape, size or form. Many inventions are bent versions of older ones. In their account, a familiar thing can become new when someone stretches it, shrinks it or changes its shape.

3. IDEA 3

   Creativity breaks things apart

   The authors describe breaking, taking something whole and splitting it into pieces to rebuild in new ways. In their account, taking a thing apart lets people see its parts clearly and use them in a different arrangement.

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