Brainchild (2018) s01e11 Episode Script
Creativity
[school bell rings]
-What's my note?
-Ba ♪
-Let's go again.
-Two, three, four
Bop bop bop ♪
Bop bop budap ♪
Choo choo choo chooooo ♪
Reeeuuuuuu ♪
Oooooooooo ♪
[all sing together, harmonizing]
I might be biased, but that was amazing!
-We are gonna rock the talent show.
-I can almost taste the prize money.
Forget about tasting it.
I can't wait to spend it!
Okay. There's one thing
we need to do before that.
-What?
-We need to name the group.
That's easy. We're gonna be called
Oh, I got it, Here Comes Treble.
-That's from The Office.
-What about Treble-makers?
-Pitch Perfect.
-What about Nothing But Treble?
I Knew You Were Treble?
Big Treble in Little China.
-No.
-Oh, god. Stop.
We can do better than that.
-Sahana!
-Sahana!
-Thank God, you're here.
-Can you help us name the group?
As long as it doesn't have
the word "treble" in it.
If I do, will you let me join your group?
Check this out.
Chicky wack de wap
kussapussa skippercuppa ♪
skupperskipper skipperskippa ♪
-Yeah.
-Sure.
I'm just kidding.
I'm busy. I got a show to host!
But you don't need me to be creative.
Anyone can be creative,
including you at home.
While there's no secret code
to being creative,
there's no harm in learning the tips,
tricks, and science
behind creativity.
Ooooooowwwaaah! ♪
It's time to get creative on Brainchild.
Oomskiksa boomskitsa ♪
-That was better.
-No, it wasn't.
Whether you're a painter,
a dancer, a musician,
or none of the above,
creativity exists inside us all.
You just need to know how to unlock it.
So, where does creativity come from?
To find out, we're gonna play a game
to see how naturally creative you are.
Spot the tigers ♪
Roaarrrrr!
Take a look at this picture.
All you have to do
is count the number of tigers you see.
You've got ten seconds.
Ready? Go!
So, how many tigers did you count?
We're pretty sure you spotted
this family of four tigers.
They're not even trying to hide.
And maybe you saw this one on the tree
and this one on the rock
and this guy in the bushes.
The average person can find
between six to nine tigers.
But would you believe there are actually
16 tigers hidden in this painting?
That's right, 16! Here they are.
Don't worry if you didn't see
all the tigers. Most people don't.
This game was designed to get a baseline
level of your creative thinking.
While it might come more naturally
to some people than others,
creativity exists inside us all.
Sometimes, all it takes
is turning things on their head
to find the solution.
You're about to see, in this next game.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Horse and rider ♪
These are horses,
and these are riders,
and this is a classic puzzle game
that's been stumping people since 1872.
The goal is to arrange the strip
with the two riders
so that each rider
is sitting on top of a horse.
It sounds easy but trust me, it's tricky.
-You can try it this way
-Nope.
-or this way.
-Nope.
That's definitely not
how you ride a horse.
Neigh!
Before we reveal the answer,
let's see how other people did with this
centuries-old puzzle.
Go ahead, move the pieces around
however you'd like,
tell me when you think you got it.
-Could it be this way?
-[wrong! buzzer]
Keep trying. You got this.
You wanna try?
Yeah. You gotta see both horses.
[wrong! buzzer]
You folks want to try?
[man mutters]
All right. Okay.
Gotta be on top of the horse.
-It's impossible, right?
-[Sahana] It's possible.
We're really starting
to draw a crowd here.
More people
Nope!
just means more wrong answers.
-[wrong! buzzer]
-Nope.
-[wrong! buzzer]
-[Sahana] Wrong!
Nope. That's wrong, too.
I don't see it.
I promise there's a way.
I'm not tricking
you folks.
[wrong! buzzer]
-Wow! No one can solve
-[wrong! buzzer]
-this seemingly simple game.
-Neigh!
Do you have a solution for this puzzle?
Can I try it?
And down the stretch
we have a winner!
In case you missed it,
here's how it works.
Line up the vertical horses back-to-back,
then, place the riders over
the dotted line and presto!
Now they're riding two galloping horses.
Pretty cool, right?
As you just saw,
creativity has a lot of do
with perspective
and honing the ability to see things,
not as they are,
but as they could be.
Here to help explain
is our science friend, Alie Ward.
The human brain has two sides.
Your left brain is thought of
as being more practical and organized.
A good way to remember that is to think
of "L" for "left" and "logical."
Your right brain is associated
with creative thought and emotions.
So, it seems only natural to assume
creativity stems
from the right brain, right?
Wrong.
As it turns out, you need to engage
your full brain to stimulate creativity,
which means finding ways
to get both sides of your brain
to interact.
-Hello
-Hey!
-So, how do you do that?
-Good question, Alie.
Let's play a game to find out.
What do you see over here?
Relax. It's not a trick question. It's a
bottle of sweet, delicious
ketchup. And ketchup goes great
on everything,
fries, burgers, hot dogs,
cereal
Eww. Okay, maybe not cereal.
Now, besides being used
as a ketchup bottle,
what other uses can you think of
for this object?
We'll give you ten seconds.
Ready? Go!
So, how many things did you come up with?
Let's see what some other people thought.
-Ready?
-I don't Okay.
-Go!
-You can use it as a water bottle.
Umm
juice water.
You can fill it up with other liquids.
You can errrr.
Water.
Um Let's see.
Ummm.
Put a candle in it and make it,
like, a nice candle holder.
Maybe make it into some art.
I could make green sauce
and put that in there.
You can draw on it and make it
a collectible piece of art.
-You--
-Time's up!
Okay. So not bad. Okay.
But what if there was a simple
way these folks could
supercharge their creativity?
If they just look around,
maybe they'll find it.
You can try the same at home.
Just move your eyes back and forth.
Now, let's ketchup with our volunteers
for round two.
Ready? Go.
You could make it into a drum.
Into a whistle.
A door stopper.
If you get some little fish, you can make,
like, a little, like, ocean display.
put coins in it.
Empty it and just keep it around
as something that you pass on
for generations.
It'd make a great tenderizer.
You could break the glass
and use it as lenses.
You could use it as a prop in a video
where you interview a kid
over what it is.
Put knitting pins in it.
If you have a few of them,
you can make a wind chime.
Something that you could very briefly
breathe underwater with.
Nice!
-That was excellent!
-Wow, I feel brighter already.
Wow! Can you guess what caused their
sudden surge of creativity?
That's right. It was the
eye movement from before.
It turns out, moving your eyes
back and forth
actually boosts communication between
your right and left brain hemispheres.
And like Alie said earlier,
when you engage both sides
of your brain, your creativity increases.
Like, did you ever think you
could use a ketchup bottle like this?
-[bottle lid taps]
-[breath toots]
Ooo oo a ooooo ♪
Hey!
Why don't we name ourselves
Ketchup on the Rye?
-Yeah, no.
-No, dude.
We've shown you a cool way to
boost creative thinking,
but will you ever hit a peak
in your creativity? And if so,
does that mean you could one day lose it?
Let's play a game to find out.
Finish this drawing!
Take a look at this drawing.
I know it doesn't look like much,
but that's kind of the point.
What if I asked you
to finish this drawing?
You can turn it into anything you want.
While you think about it,
watch what some volunteers did when
we showed them the exact same drawing.
Meet Ravone and Liz.
Neither one claims to be an artist,
but we've supplied
each of them with a canvas
featuring the same unfinished
piece of art and
tons of supplies.
And ten minutes to create
their masterpiece. And their
time starts now!
But you can't do a proper experiment
with just
one set of test subjects,
so we brought in four more pairs
of kids and adults
to try their creative hands
on the same unfinished drawing.
Then we took the finished art
to a gallery for a fancy showing.
We even invited some friends and family
to enjoy these creative masterpieces.
Looking at these various works of art,
see if you can tell which ones
were done by an adult
and which ones were done by a child.
Let's hear what people
in the gallery thought.
See, this one's more whimsical.
But this one feels
a little bit more loose.
-I reckon this one's the kid.
-Yeah.
This is more spontaneous.
Like, you really feel like the artist
was just sort of,
wherever the brush took them.
-Yeah.
-That might be
the kid because it looks
like teenage angst, right?
Agree.
And this is, like, an adult
trying to be a child again.
-Totally.
-I think
adult, child, right?
Got your picks?
Now it's time for the big reveal.
I knew it!
Whoa! Is that what you were expecting?
Or, did you assume the more
detailed, artistic drawings were done
by adults, and
the simpler ones were done by kids?
-That doesn't make sense.
-Come on.
If so, don't feel bad.
Most people thought the same thing.
But why is that?
In this test, our kid artists
thought way outside the box
as compared to our adults,
who tended to be
more practical
and logical
in their thinking. Now, that's because,
generally speaking, creativity
tends to decline in adulthood.
But why is that?
Well, being an adult, or "adulting,"
is complicated and structured.
It's full of real-life responsibilities.
There isn't a whole lot of free time to
let your mind wander or daydream.
And as a result,
adults can sometimes lose
their natural sense of creativity.
Kids, on the other hand, rely on their
imaginations to help make sense
of the world,
filling in the gaps for all the things
they haven't learned yet.
Childlike curiosity,
wonder, and awe, allow
these kids to take a simple drawing
and just run with it.
Whether you're a kid
or just think like one,
here's a quick test to see
how your creative juices are flowing.
Take a look at these matches.
You can only move three of them
to create three perfect squares.
Which three would you move? And where?
We'll give you ten seconds
to figure it out.
Ready? Go!
[bell rings]
If you're stumped, here's the answer.
Whether or not you figured this one out,
working on puzzles like these
is a great way to stimulate both sides
of your brain and boost your creativity.
Question. What do you do
when you need to be creative
and all you can draw is
a blank?
Let's hear how other
people spark their
creativity when they're feeling blocked.
I go out to the water
and sit and think about different things.
Looking at the water
gives me a lot of inspiration.
I like to go somewhere totally new
or experience something totally different.
Playing music while having ideas
helps me be creative.
I do really great thinking in the shower.
I sing a lot in the shower.
-I go in the sh--
-He sings a lot in the shower.
-I don't sing a lot!
-Yes, you do.
Okay, maybe I do.
When I need to be creative,
it depends on the setting.
If I'm on a plane
or I'm in the shower
or if I'm near running water
or any moving elements,
your mind wanders, and that's when
interesting stuff comes in.
So how can something mundane like
taking a shower help you get creative?
Well, it has to do with the way
your brain is wired.
Now, to fire up your creative juices,
your brain needs to be
free and unencumbered,
able to wander and consider new thoughts
-and ideas.
-Which is why activities
that create a lot of mental noise,
like playing sports or binge-watching TV,
aren't doing your creativity any favors
unless it's this show, of course!
And we've got one more
creative hack for you,
as you're about to see and hear
in this next game.
Wait. So you think you can rap?
We brought in four unsuspecting volunteers
who say they have no artistic talent,
to take part in our creativity experiment.
For the first part of this test, we had
them imagine they were a famous rap star
and asked them to create a logo
for their new rapper alter
ego. Let's see what they came up with.
My logo. Okay. Let's see.
Okay. I'm an internationally famous
rapping artist,
and I'm gonna create my logo here.
All right.
Back up. Here we go.
I'm starting with the land,
the lay of the land.
I feel great. This is fun.
Purple. I like purple.
Ha ha ha!
I'm gonna do
my best stick figure here, okay?
Let's give it a soul.
Oh, no!
Mm. Oh, now it looks like it's crying.
[sobs]
[sniffs]
I just like a lot of color.
So, the dots kinda represent, you know,
the smorgasbord of fun.
I think I'm done.
I think I've created a masterpiece here.
Check this in stores.
Well, that's
supposed to be an "M" with eyes
and a face, but it's melting.
Not bad. But this wasn't the
real test of their creativity.
For the next part of our experiment,
we broke the news that they'd have
to embody their new personas on stage.
Each of you will get to take a turn
doing freestyle rapping for your peers.
Oh!
They didn't take the news well.
I'm actually very frightened right now.
-We're in trouble.
-We're in this together.
-Oh, we'll sink together.
-Yeah! Right?
-What's gonna happen?
-Oh, man!
-All righty, then.
-Sooo bad.
-This is my nightmare.
-This has problems. I can't solve them.
Freestyling takes years to master.
But it's okay.
We don't expect them to be great.
Now it's time to bust a rhyme.
But you can't have a
rap battle without a judge.
Let the battle begin!
Give me a beat.
[rap music plays]
What's goin' on? ♪
Okay.
Steven said you can take the girl
Outta New Jersey ♪
But you can't take the New Jersey
Outta the girl ♪
One, two, three
Rhymes with do, re, mi ♪
And I wanna see
What you really want from me ♪
Gotta admit, I'm pretty scared ♪
I really wish, that I had,
something prepared ♪
This is so weird
And I don't-know-what-to-do ♪
So, here we go, here we go
Let's do it, cool! ♪
I got two dogs ♪
And they don't listen ♪
I can't really reach this microphone
But you know what? ♪
Who needs it? ♪
Yeah ♪
All they wanna do is eat ♪
And sleep
And then go out ♪
Someone said I should rhyme
about what I like ♪
So, I'll talk about riding my bike ♪
Just a little taste
For my players to taste ♪
Sledge four four oh
Remember the name ♪
It's for the kids! ♪
One ♪
Two ♪
Three ♪
Four ♪
Exit X ♪
As a kid, I didn't find it informative.
I can count past four.
[rap music reprises]
It was definitely funny,
but I've seen two year olds do better.
-Ay ay ay!
-Yeah. I'm out.
It was really good.
My favorite part was when it was over.
Wow! Despite what our mini Simon Cowell
had to say,
our amateur emcees
actually faced their fears
and pulled it off.
So, the experiment was a success, right?
Not quite, because the real experiment
hasn't actually started yet.
Okay. Here we go.
Now they've gotten a taste
behind the mike, we're giving them
another shot
at creating their rap-star logo.
That's okay that it's dripping.
I kinda like it.
Do you think there'll be any difference
between the new logos and the old ones?
These are my shades of confidence.
Wow! The second ones
look much more colorful,
bright, and imaginative, than the
first ones. Could it be that
getting onstage for the freestyle rap
unlocked some hidden creativity?
Why is that?
You can have fun and express
yourself. It doesn't have to be perfect.
It's whatever makes you feel happy,
what unlocks your happiness.
Maybe anything else I do
from now on, it's
it'll make it more vibrant 'cause
I had to think on my feet, y'know?
It definitely brought out
some hidden creativity, I guess
if this is creative.
I just was thinking on my feet,
and it got me
feeling confident and made me feel
a lot more like I knew what I was doing.
And they've got science to back them up.
As you just saw, our rookie rappers were
much more creative after
they rocked the mic.
But, why? Well, it's because
scientists have determined
certain improvisational activities,
like freestyle rapping,
can unlock a magical state
in your brain called "flow."
Now, during a flow state,
the part of your brain
that acts like your internal filter,
the prefrontal cortex,
shuts down,
while parts of your brain related to
motivation, language, and emotion
light up like crazy.
So, this allows your unfiltered mind
to free-associate
and come up with wild
and fun, creative ideas.
Our artists are happy
with their creations
but what does our kid judge think?
The paintings are really good.
I really, really like them.
A whikky whikky whack ♪
Still practicing. Sorry.
Creativity isn't some magical power
that only some
people have access to.
All it takes is
the right combination of inspiration,
motivation
and imagination,
and creativity can strike you just like
magic!
We need a name ASAP.
We came up with like a thousand names.
I kinda liked
Untitled Female A Cappella Group.
-No!
-It fits.
I'm surprised Sahana didn't come up
with a name for us
but, she did design these sweet posters.
Ooooh!
Wait a minute.
That's it! Look at the names!
Oh, wow!
It spells "magic."
-Treble Magic.
-No!
Just "Magic."
[squeals]
[laughter]
Hey, girls. Let's go!
[crowd cheers]
And the winner
of tonight's talent show is
Magic!
[crowd cheers]
-[laughs]
-[other girls laugh]
-I am sorry.
-[other girls laugh]
Sahana!
-Are we all saying it?
-Okay.
She just left.
I am wearing pants.
Row, row, down your boat ♪
Down ♪
[girls laugh]
What? What?
[silly voice]
Row, row, down your boooat.
-Row down your boat.
-Down your boooat.
-What's my note?
-Ba ♪
-Let's go again.
-Two, three, four
Bop bop bop ♪
Bop bop budap ♪
Choo choo choo chooooo ♪
Reeeuuuuuu ♪
Oooooooooo ♪
[all sing together, harmonizing]
I might be biased, but that was amazing!
-We are gonna rock the talent show.
-I can almost taste the prize money.
Forget about tasting it.
I can't wait to spend it!
Okay. There's one thing
we need to do before that.
-What?
-We need to name the group.
That's easy. We're gonna be called
Oh, I got it, Here Comes Treble.
-That's from The Office.
-What about Treble-makers?
-Pitch Perfect.
-What about Nothing But Treble?
I Knew You Were Treble?
Big Treble in Little China.
-No.
-Oh, god. Stop.
We can do better than that.
-Sahana!
-Sahana!
-Thank God, you're here.
-Can you help us name the group?
As long as it doesn't have
the word "treble" in it.
If I do, will you let me join your group?
Check this out.
Chicky wack de wap
kussapussa skippercuppa ♪
skupperskipper skipperskippa ♪
-Yeah.
-Sure.
I'm just kidding.
I'm busy. I got a show to host!
But you don't need me to be creative.
Anyone can be creative,
including you at home.
While there's no secret code
to being creative,
there's no harm in learning the tips,
tricks, and science
behind creativity.
Ooooooowwwaaah! ♪
It's time to get creative on Brainchild.
Oomskiksa boomskitsa ♪
-That was better.
-No, it wasn't.
Whether you're a painter,
a dancer, a musician,
or none of the above,
creativity exists inside us all.
You just need to know how to unlock it.
So, where does creativity come from?
To find out, we're gonna play a game
to see how naturally creative you are.
Spot the tigers ♪
Roaarrrrr!
Take a look at this picture.
All you have to do
is count the number of tigers you see.
You've got ten seconds.
Ready? Go!
So, how many tigers did you count?
We're pretty sure you spotted
this family of four tigers.
They're not even trying to hide.
And maybe you saw this one on the tree
and this one on the rock
and this guy in the bushes.
The average person can find
between six to nine tigers.
But would you believe there are actually
16 tigers hidden in this painting?
That's right, 16! Here they are.
Don't worry if you didn't see
all the tigers. Most people don't.
This game was designed to get a baseline
level of your creative thinking.
While it might come more naturally
to some people than others,
creativity exists inside us all.
Sometimes, all it takes
is turning things on their head
to find the solution.
You're about to see, in this next game.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Horse and rider ♪
These are horses,
and these are riders,
and this is a classic puzzle game
that's been stumping people since 1872.
The goal is to arrange the strip
with the two riders
so that each rider
is sitting on top of a horse.
It sounds easy but trust me, it's tricky.
-You can try it this way
-Nope.
-or this way.
-Nope.
That's definitely not
how you ride a horse.
Neigh!
Before we reveal the answer,
let's see how other people did with this
centuries-old puzzle.
Go ahead, move the pieces around
however you'd like,
tell me when you think you got it.
-Could it be this way?
-[wrong! buzzer]
Keep trying. You got this.
You wanna try?
Yeah. You gotta see both horses.
[wrong! buzzer]
You folks want to try?
[man mutters]
All right. Okay.
Gotta be on top of the horse.
-It's impossible, right?
-[Sahana] It's possible.
We're really starting
to draw a crowd here.
More people
Nope!
just means more wrong answers.
-[wrong! buzzer]
-Nope.
-[wrong! buzzer]
-[Sahana] Wrong!
Nope. That's wrong, too.
I don't see it.
I promise there's a way.
I'm not tricking
you folks.
[wrong! buzzer]
-Wow! No one can solve
-[wrong! buzzer]
-this seemingly simple game.
-Neigh!
Do you have a solution for this puzzle?
Can I try it?
And down the stretch
we have a winner!
In case you missed it,
here's how it works.
Line up the vertical horses back-to-back,
then, place the riders over
the dotted line and presto!
Now they're riding two galloping horses.
Pretty cool, right?
As you just saw,
creativity has a lot of do
with perspective
and honing the ability to see things,
not as they are,
but as they could be.
Here to help explain
is our science friend, Alie Ward.
The human brain has two sides.
Your left brain is thought of
as being more practical and organized.
A good way to remember that is to think
of "L" for "left" and "logical."
Your right brain is associated
with creative thought and emotions.
So, it seems only natural to assume
creativity stems
from the right brain, right?
Wrong.
As it turns out, you need to engage
your full brain to stimulate creativity,
which means finding ways
to get both sides of your brain
to interact.
-Hello
-Hey!
-So, how do you do that?
-Good question, Alie.
Let's play a game to find out.
What do you see over here?
Relax. It's not a trick question. It's a
bottle of sweet, delicious
ketchup. And ketchup goes great
on everything,
fries, burgers, hot dogs,
cereal
Eww. Okay, maybe not cereal.
Now, besides being used
as a ketchup bottle,
what other uses can you think of
for this object?
We'll give you ten seconds.
Ready? Go!
So, how many things did you come up with?
Let's see what some other people thought.
-Ready?
-I don't Okay.
-Go!
-You can use it as a water bottle.
Umm
juice water.
You can fill it up with other liquids.
You can errrr.
Water.
Um Let's see.
Ummm.
Put a candle in it and make it,
like, a nice candle holder.
Maybe make it into some art.
I could make green sauce
and put that in there.
You can draw on it and make it
a collectible piece of art.
-You--
-Time's up!
Okay. So not bad. Okay.
But what if there was a simple
way these folks could
supercharge their creativity?
If they just look around,
maybe they'll find it.
You can try the same at home.
Just move your eyes back and forth.
Now, let's ketchup with our volunteers
for round two.
Ready? Go.
You could make it into a drum.
Into a whistle.
A door stopper.
If you get some little fish, you can make,
like, a little, like, ocean display.
put coins in it.
Empty it and just keep it around
as something that you pass on
for generations.
It'd make a great tenderizer.
You could break the glass
and use it as lenses.
You could use it as a prop in a video
where you interview a kid
over what it is.
Put knitting pins in it.
If you have a few of them,
you can make a wind chime.
Something that you could very briefly
breathe underwater with.
Nice!
-That was excellent!
-Wow, I feel brighter already.
Wow! Can you guess what caused their
sudden surge of creativity?
That's right. It was the
eye movement from before.
It turns out, moving your eyes
back and forth
actually boosts communication between
your right and left brain hemispheres.
And like Alie said earlier,
when you engage both sides
of your brain, your creativity increases.
Like, did you ever think you
could use a ketchup bottle like this?
-[bottle lid taps]
-[breath toots]
Ooo oo a ooooo ♪
Hey!
Why don't we name ourselves
Ketchup on the Rye?
-Yeah, no.
-No, dude.
We've shown you a cool way to
boost creative thinking,
but will you ever hit a peak
in your creativity? And if so,
does that mean you could one day lose it?
Let's play a game to find out.
Finish this drawing!
Take a look at this drawing.
I know it doesn't look like much,
but that's kind of the point.
What if I asked you
to finish this drawing?
You can turn it into anything you want.
While you think about it,
watch what some volunteers did when
we showed them the exact same drawing.
Meet Ravone and Liz.
Neither one claims to be an artist,
but we've supplied
each of them with a canvas
featuring the same unfinished
piece of art and
tons of supplies.
And ten minutes to create
their masterpiece. And their
time starts now!
But you can't do a proper experiment
with just
one set of test subjects,
so we brought in four more pairs
of kids and adults
to try their creative hands
on the same unfinished drawing.
Then we took the finished art
to a gallery for a fancy showing.
We even invited some friends and family
to enjoy these creative masterpieces.
Looking at these various works of art,
see if you can tell which ones
were done by an adult
and which ones were done by a child.
Let's hear what people
in the gallery thought.
See, this one's more whimsical.
But this one feels
a little bit more loose.
-I reckon this one's the kid.
-Yeah.
This is more spontaneous.
Like, you really feel like the artist
was just sort of,
wherever the brush took them.
-Yeah.
-That might be
the kid because it looks
like teenage angst, right?
Agree.
And this is, like, an adult
trying to be a child again.
-Totally.
-I think
adult, child, right?
Got your picks?
Now it's time for the big reveal.
I knew it!
Whoa! Is that what you were expecting?
Or, did you assume the more
detailed, artistic drawings were done
by adults, and
the simpler ones were done by kids?
-That doesn't make sense.
-Come on.
If so, don't feel bad.
Most people thought the same thing.
But why is that?
In this test, our kid artists
thought way outside the box
as compared to our adults,
who tended to be
more practical
and logical
in their thinking. Now, that's because,
generally speaking, creativity
tends to decline in adulthood.
But why is that?
Well, being an adult, or "adulting,"
is complicated and structured.
It's full of real-life responsibilities.
There isn't a whole lot of free time to
let your mind wander or daydream.
And as a result,
adults can sometimes lose
their natural sense of creativity.
Kids, on the other hand, rely on their
imaginations to help make sense
of the world,
filling in the gaps for all the things
they haven't learned yet.
Childlike curiosity,
wonder, and awe, allow
these kids to take a simple drawing
and just run with it.
Whether you're a kid
or just think like one,
here's a quick test to see
how your creative juices are flowing.
Take a look at these matches.
You can only move three of them
to create three perfect squares.
Which three would you move? And where?
We'll give you ten seconds
to figure it out.
Ready? Go!
[bell rings]
If you're stumped, here's the answer.
Whether or not you figured this one out,
working on puzzles like these
is a great way to stimulate both sides
of your brain and boost your creativity.
Question. What do you do
when you need to be creative
and all you can draw is
a blank?
Let's hear how other
people spark their
creativity when they're feeling blocked.
I go out to the water
and sit and think about different things.
Looking at the water
gives me a lot of inspiration.
I like to go somewhere totally new
or experience something totally different.
Playing music while having ideas
helps me be creative.
I do really great thinking in the shower.
I sing a lot in the shower.
-I go in the sh--
-He sings a lot in the shower.
-I don't sing a lot!
-Yes, you do.
Okay, maybe I do.
When I need to be creative,
it depends on the setting.
If I'm on a plane
or I'm in the shower
or if I'm near running water
or any moving elements,
your mind wanders, and that's when
interesting stuff comes in.
So how can something mundane like
taking a shower help you get creative?
Well, it has to do with the way
your brain is wired.
Now, to fire up your creative juices,
your brain needs to be
free and unencumbered,
able to wander and consider new thoughts
-and ideas.
-Which is why activities
that create a lot of mental noise,
like playing sports or binge-watching TV,
aren't doing your creativity any favors
unless it's this show, of course!
And we've got one more
creative hack for you,
as you're about to see and hear
in this next game.
Wait. So you think you can rap?
We brought in four unsuspecting volunteers
who say they have no artistic talent,
to take part in our creativity experiment.
For the first part of this test, we had
them imagine they were a famous rap star
and asked them to create a logo
for their new rapper alter
ego. Let's see what they came up with.
My logo. Okay. Let's see.
Okay. I'm an internationally famous
rapping artist,
and I'm gonna create my logo here.
All right.
Back up. Here we go.
I'm starting with the land,
the lay of the land.
I feel great. This is fun.
Purple. I like purple.
Ha ha ha!
I'm gonna do
my best stick figure here, okay?
Let's give it a soul.
Oh, no!
Mm. Oh, now it looks like it's crying.
[sobs]
[sniffs]
I just like a lot of color.
So, the dots kinda represent, you know,
the smorgasbord of fun.
I think I'm done.
I think I've created a masterpiece here.
Check this in stores.
Well, that's
supposed to be an "M" with eyes
and a face, but it's melting.
Not bad. But this wasn't the
real test of their creativity.
For the next part of our experiment,
we broke the news that they'd have
to embody their new personas on stage.
Each of you will get to take a turn
doing freestyle rapping for your peers.
Oh!
They didn't take the news well.
I'm actually very frightened right now.
-We're in trouble.
-We're in this together.
-Oh, we'll sink together.
-Yeah! Right?
-What's gonna happen?
-Oh, man!
-All righty, then.
-Sooo bad.
-This is my nightmare.
-This has problems. I can't solve them.
Freestyling takes years to master.
But it's okay.
We don't expect them to be great.
Now it's time to bust a rhyme.
But you can't have a
rap battle without a judge.
Let the battle begin!
Give me a beat.
[rap music plays]
What's goin' on? ♪
Okay.
Steven said you can take the girl
Outta New Jersey ♪
But you can't take the New Jersey
Outta the girl ♪
One, two, three
Rhymes with do, re, mi ♪
And I wanna see
What you really want from me ♪
Gotta admit, I'm pretty scared ♪
I really wish, that I had,
something prepared ♪
This is so weird
And I don't-know-what-to-do ♪
So, here we go, here we go
Let's do it, cool! ♪
I got two dogs ♪
And they don't listen ♪
I can't really reach this microphone
But you know what? ♪
Who needs it? ♪
Yeah ♪
All they wanna do is eat ♪
And sleep
And then go out ♪
Someone said I should rhyme
about what I like ♪
So, I'll talk about riding my bike ♪
Just a little taste
For my players to taste ♪
Sledge four four oh
Remember the name ♪
It's for the kids! ♪
One ♪
Two ♪
Three ♪
Four ♪
Exit X ♪
As a kid, I didn't find it informative.
I can count past four.
[rap music reprises]
It was definitely funny,
but I've seen two year olds do better.
-Ay ay ay!
-Yeah. I'm out.
It was really good.
My favorite part was when it was over.
Wow! Despite what our mini Simon Cowell
had to say,
our amateur emcees
actually faced their fears
and pulled it off.
So, the experiment was a success, right?
Not quite, because the real experiment
hasn't actually started yet.
Okay. Here we go.
Now they've gotten a taste
behind the mike, we're giving them
another shot
at creating their rap-star logo.
That's okay that it's dripping.
I kinda like it.
Do you think there'll be any difference
between the new logos and the old ones?
These are my shades of confidence.
Wow! The second ones
look much more colorful,
bright, and imaginative, than the
first ones. Could it be that
getting onstage for the freestyle rap
unlocked some hidden creativity?
Why is that?
You can have fun and express
yourself. It doesn't have to be perfect.
It's whatever makes you feel happy,
what unlocks your happiness.
Maybe anything else I do
from now on, it's
it'll make it more vibrant 'cause
I had to think on my feet, y'know?
It definitely brought out
some hidden creativity, I guess
if this is creative.
I just was thinking on my feet,
and it got me
feeling confident and made me feel
a lot more like I knew what I was doing.
And they've got science to back them up.
As you just saw, our rookie rappers were
much more creative after
they rocked the mic.
But, why? Well, it's because
scientists have determined
certain improvisational activities,
like freestyle rapping,
can unlock a magical state
in your brain called "flow."
Now, during a flow state,
the part of your brain
that acts like your internal filter,
the prefrontal cortex,
shuts down,
while parts of your brain related to
motivation, language, and emotion
light up like crazy.
So, this allows your unfiltered mind
to free-associate
and come up with wild
and fun, creative ideas.
Our artists are happy
with their creations
but what does our kid judge think?
The paintings are really good.
I really, really like them.
A whikky whikky whack ♪
Still practicing. Sorry.
Creativity isn't some magical power
that only some
people have access to.
All it takes is
the right combination of inspiration,
motivation
and imagination,
and creativity can strike you just like
magic!
We need a name ASAP.
We came up with like a thousand names.
I kinda liked
Untitled Female A Cappella Group.
-No!
-It fits.
I'm surprised Sahana didn't come up
with a name for us
but, she did design these sweet posters.
Ooooh!
Wait a minute.
That's it! Look at the names!
Oh, wow!
It spells "magic."
-Treble Magic.
-No!
Just "Magic."
[squeals]
[laughter]
Hey, girls. Let's go!
[crowd cheers]
And the winner
of tonight's talent show is
Magic!
[crowd cheers]
-[laughs]
-[other girls laugh]
-I am sorry.
-[other girls laugh]
Sahana!
-Are we all saying it?
-Okay.
She just left.
I am wearing pants.
Row, row, down your boat ♪
Down ♪
[girls laugh]
What? What?
[silly voice]
Row, row, down your boooat.
-Row down your boat.
-Down your boooat.