The most original thinkers weren’t simply better at dreaming up ideas or controlling them. Across 2,433 people, creativity was linked to how fluidly the brain shifted between spontaneous thought and deliberate evaluation—a rhythm general intelligence did not predict.

A researcher operating an MRI scanner while a participant lies inside

The romantic version of creativity begins with surrender. Stop controlling the mind, let it wander and wait for the strange idea to arrive. The managerial version begins at the opposite ...