If our DNA has a literary equivalent, it's Finnegan's Wake. - Jonah Lehrer

The vocational approach at NOCCA (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts) helps build grit in students. It teaches them how to be single-minded in pursuit of a goal, to sacrifice for the sake of a passion. The teachers demand hard work from their kids because they know, from personal experience, that creative success requires nothing less.

But the physical health of these young monkeys hid a devastating
sickness: they had been wrecked by loneliness. Their short
lives had been defined by total isolation, and they proved incapable
of even the most basic social interactions. They would maniacally
rock back and forth in their metal cages, sucking on
their thumbs until they bled. When they encountered other monkeys,
they would shriek in fear, run to the corners of their cages,
and stare at the floor. If they felt threatened, they would lash out
in vicious acts of violence. Sometimes these violent tendencies
were turned inward. One monkey ripped out its fur in bloody
clumps. Another gnawed off its own hand. Because of their early
deprivation, these babies had to be isolated for the rest of their
lives.

In fact, even fleeting feelings of delight can lead to dramatic increases in creativity. After watching a short, humorous video — Beeman uses a clip of Robin Williams doing standup — subjects have significantly more epiphanies, at least when compared with those who were shown scary or boring videos. Because positive moods allow us to relax, we focus less on the troubling world and more on these remote associations. Another ideal moment for insights, according to Beeman and John Kounios, is the early morning, shortly after waking up. The drowsy brain is unwound and disorganized, open to all sorts of unconventional ideas. The right hemisphere is also unusually active.