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  3. Where do good ideas come from? For centuries, all credit for these mysterious gifts went to faith, fortune and some fair muses.

Where do good ideas come from? For centuries, all credit for these mysterious gifts went to faith, fortune and some fair muses.

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问题     Where do good ideas come from? For centuries, all credit for these mysterious gifts went to faith, fortune and some fair muses. But to assume creativity is some lofty trait enjoyed by the few is both foolish and unproductive, argues Jonah Lehrer in "Imagine" , a smart new book about "how creativity works". Drawing from a wide array of scientific and sociological research—and everything from the poetry of W. H. Auden to the films of Pixar—he makes a convincing case that innovation cannot only be studied and measured, but also nurtured and encouraged.
    Just outside St Paul, Minnesota, sits the corporate headquarters of 3M. The company sells more than 55,000 products, from streetlights to computer touch-screens, and is ranked as the third-most innovative in the world. But when Mr. Lehrer visits, he finds employees engaged in all sorts of frivolous activities, such as playing pinball and wandering about the campus. These workers are actually pushed to take regular breaks, as time away from a problem can help spark a moment of insight. This is because interrupting work with a relaxing activity lets the mind turn inward, where it can subconsciously puzzle over subtle meanings and connections. "That’s why so many insights happen during warm showers," says Joydeep Bhattacharya, a psychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London.
    But this is just one reason for 3M’s creative output. The company also encourages its employees to take risks, not only by spending masses on research (nearly 8% of gross revenue), but also by expecting workers to spend around 15% of their time pursuing speculative ideas. Most of these efforts will fail, but some will generate real profit for the company. The reason why this approach works—and why it has been imitated by other crafty companies such as Google—is because many breakthroughs come when people venture beyond their area of expertise.
    This is why young people tend to be the most innovative thinkers in nearly any field, from physics to music. The ignorance of youth "comes with creative advantages," writes Mr. Lehrer, as the young are less Jill by custom and experience. Still, he reassures readers that anyone can stay creative as long as he works "to maintain the perspective of the outsider". This can be done by considering new problems at work, travelling to new countries or simply spending more time staring " at things we don’t fully understand. "
    This is an inspiring and engaging book that reveals creativity as less a sign of rare genius than a natural human potential. Mr. Lehrer points to William Shakespeare, for example, as someone who was largely a man of his time; the culture of Elizabethan London nurtured quite a few poets—much like ancient Athens gave rise to a glut of thinkers and Renaissance Florence inspired many fine artists. Shakespeare knew his way with a pen, but he also lived in a culture that put a premium on ideas, spread education, introduced new patents for inventions and did not always rigorously enforce censorship laws.
    Mr. Lehrer concludes with a call for better policy to "increase our collective creativity". He suggests allowing more immigration, inviting more risk and enabling more cultural borrowing and adaptation. He also warns that the work demands a lot of time, sweat and gut. Or as Albert Einstein put it: "creativity is the residue of time wasted. "
It can be inferred from Paragraph 4 that the old tend to be less creative because______.
选项 A、they have outlived the days when their mind is sharpest and most lively
B、the easy and comfortable life exhausts their passion to invent and create
C、their perspective as an outsider has been accepted by the mainstream
D、experience and convention restrains them from breaking the rule
答案D
解析 文章第三段提到3M公司鼓励员工大胆设想、大胆冒险的做法取得了积极的效果，第三段最后一句话“…many breakthroughs come when people venture beyond their area of expertise”，许多突破都是当人们冒险越过自己熟知的领域时发生的。第四段接着这句话的内容继续深入。作者在第四段提到年轻人之所以比年长者更有创造力是因为年轻人“无知”而无畏。莱勒还告诉人们只要能够时时保持用一个局外人的眼光看待问题，就能拥有永不枯竭的创新能量。所谓“保持局外人的眼光”意思也就是说要善于打破常规，打破定势思维，换个角度看问题。由此我们可以判断，年长者之所以不像年轻人那么有创造力是因为他们太有经验，而往往不愿意跳出自己熟知的经验领域以全新的视角和眼光看待问题。[D]为正确答案。比较具有迷惑性的是[C]，利用文中的关键词perspective of the outsider设置干扰。
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