Jonah Lehrer's new book offers nothing you didn't already know about how to be creative. He uses examples of well-known successes like Bob Dylan and then repackages existing ideas of being creative into what he has smartly named 'meta ideas'. See what I meant by repackaging?

The main ideas about Lehrer's 'meta ideas' are:
1. Education is necessary: We all know this to some extent.
2. Travel and meet other people: Lehrer says human mixing stimulates creativity. We already know this.
3. Lehrer says that creativity requires willingness to take risks: Now, where have we heard this before?
4. Society must manage the rewards of innovation: Huh?

Lehere's other main idea is what he calls the 'Dionysian vs. Appollonian artists'
See what I meant by repackaging. The only question with Lehrer seems to be that he has read more books than you and I. The idea of 'Dionysian vs. Appollonian' is covered in Friedrich Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy.

Lehrer says that Bob Dylan symbolizes the Dionysian "divergent artist" type where creativity comes in spurts.

On the other hand, W. H. Auden symbolizes the Appollonian "convergent artist" type where intense focus and grit bring about works of art.

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