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Where does creativity come from?

Top voices on creativity: Nick Cave, Ted Chiang, George Saunders, Susan Kare and 20 others.

30 dated claims from 24 people · 5 views · most recent 25 Sept 2026. Every line below links to the person’s own words.

The views

Our reading of what a group of claims have in common, one level above a korrent: a korrent is our reading of what somebody said, a view is our reading of what several korrents share. The claims are printed under it, so the sentence can be checked against them.

Nobody is filed under a view — claims are. A person is named here because a dated claim of theirs sits under it, and somebody whose claims sit under two views appears under both.

  1. It comes from turning up and doing the work often, not from inspiration

    George SaundersSteven PressfieldNick CaveBrad FeldMichael NielsenDavid Heinemeier HanssonAndrew Chen

  2. Nothing is made from nothing: new ideas are old pieces brought together

    Venkatesh RaoHenrik KarlssonNick CaveTed ChiangMing Thein

  3. It needs room: constraints, solitude and time away from the grind

    Susan KareHenrik KarlssonDavid Heinemeier HanssonKenneth ReitzDerek SiversVicki BoykisCate Hall

  4. Machines can already be creative, perhaps more than people

    David Heinemeier HanssonKatie DillChip Huyen

  5. Machines produce sameness; the new ideas still come from people

    Nathan LambertEthan MollickLincoln MichelJack ClarkAdam GrantDan Houser

A viewour reading

It comes from turning up and doing the work often, not from inspiration

5 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

Making art is a job you turn up to whether or not you feel inspired, and the work only arrives for people who are already at the desk.

  1. George Saunders American short-story writer and novelist Write something, in any old mood – feeling great about it or terrible, doesn’t matter. On the Perils of Self-Assessing...georgesaunders.substack.com · 6 Aug 2026
    Their wordsWrite something, in any old mood – feeling great about it or terrible, doesn’t matter.

    ↗On the Perils of Self-Assessing...georgesaunders.substack.com

    6 Aug 2026

  2. Steven Pressfield American novelist and non-fiction writer It doesn’t matter what creative field you’re in. Keep showing up day after day, and the game of numbers will work in your favor. Talent Is Bullshitstevenpressfield.com · 1 Jul 2026
    Their wordsIt doesn’t matter what creative field you’re in. Keep showing up day after day, and the game of numbers will work in your favor.

    ↗Talent Is Bullshitstevenpressfield.com

    1 Jul 2026

  3. Nick Cave Australian songwriter and writer I also have an affinity with artists who treat their craft as a job and are not dependent on the vagaries of inspiration — because I am one of them. Like most people with a job, we just go to work. Do you think it is more important to find inspiration or to get to work and write?theredhandfiles.com · 29 Jun 2021
    Their wordsI also have an affinity with artists who treat their craft as a job and are not dependent on the vagaries of inspiration — because I am one of them. Like most people with a job, we just go to work.

    ↗Do you think it is more important to find inspiration or to get to work and write?theredhandfiles.com

    29 Jun 2021

Creative work splits into routine work you should get fast at and high-variance work you must be willing to spend a long time on, and almost everyone is good at only one of the two.

  1. Michael Nielsen Physicist, writer and researcher there's sort of there's two types of work that tends to be involved in any kind of creative project. There's routine stuff and there you just want to avoid procrastination. You just want to like, you know, how do I get good at this or how do I outsource it and how do I do it as rapidly as possible? Um and just avoid you know, like getting into a situation where you're prolonging it. Um, and then there's high variance stuff where you actually you need to be willing to to you know take a lot of time. Michael Nielsen – Why aliens will have a different tech stack than usyoutube.com · 7 Apr 2026 · 1:44:38 into the video
    Their wordsthere's sort of there's two types of work that tends to be involved in any kind of creative project. There's routine stuff and there you just want to avoid procrastination. You just want to like, you know, how do I get good at this or how do I outsource it and how do I do it as rapidly as possible? Um and just avoid you know, like getting into a situation where you're prolonging it. Um, and then there's high variance stuff where you actually you need to be willing to to you know take a lot of time.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:44:38 plays here

    ↗Michael Nielsen – Why aliens will have a different tech stack than usyoutube.com

    7 Apr 2026 · video · 2h 03m · spoken · machine transcript

A viewour reading

Nothing is made from nothing: new ideas are old pieces brought together

7 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

Mathematical creativity works best with open, associative boundaries for generating ideas but strict, mechanical boundaries for verifying them.

  1. Venkatesh Rao Writer and consultant on technology A productive mathematical ecology wants porous epistemic boundaries and impermeable verification boundaries. On the way in, metaphor, hallucination and category mistakes can be useful. On the way out, they are forbidden. The Curiously Playable Universecontraptions.venkateshrao.com · 5 Sept 2026
    Their wordsA productive mathematical ecology wants porous epistemic boundaries and impermeable verification boundaries. On the way in, metaphor, hallucination and category mistakes can be useful. On the way out, they are forbidden.

    ↗The Curiously Playable Universecontraptions.venkateshrao.com

    5 Sept 2026

Starting creative work from a small, specific detail produces more original results than starting from a big overarching idea.

  1. Henrik Karlsson Swedish essayist who writes Escaping Flatland The things you arrive at by exploring small seeds, on the other hand, lead you further astray and tend to produce more life. On having more interesting ideas, pt. 2henrikkarlsson.xyz · 11 Aug 2026
    Their wordsThe things you arrive at by exploring small seeds, on the other hand, lead you further astray and tend to produce more life.

    ↗On having more interesting ideas, pt. 2henrikkarlsson.xyz

    11 Aug 2026

A work does not have to be unlike everything before it to be worth making; what makes it new is that this particular person made it.

  1. Nick Cave Australian songwriter and writer There may be nothing new under the sun, but it is our distinctiveness that matters, our specialness. How have your beliefs evolved? What did you once hold true in your beliefs that you don't hold now?theredhandfiles.com · 29 Jun 2026
    Their wordsThere may be nothing new under the sun, but it is our distinctiveness that matters, our specialness.

    ↗How have your beliefs evolved? What did you once hold true in your beliefs that you don't hold now?theredhandfiles.com

    29 Jun 2026

  2. Ted Chiang American science-fiction writer What you create doesn’t have to be utterly unlike every prior piece of art in human history to be valuable; the fact that you’re the one who is saying it, the fact that it derives from your unique life experience and arrives at a particular moment in the life of whoever is seeing your work, is what makes it new. Why A.I. Isn't Going to Make Artnewyorker.com · 31 Aug 2024
    Their wordsWhat you create doesn’t have to be utterly unlike every prior piece of art in human history to be valuable; the fact that you’re the one who is saying it, the fact that it derives from your unique life experience and arrives at a particular moment in the life of whoever is seeing your work, is what makes it new.

    ↗Why A.I. Isn't Going to Make Artnewyorker.com

    31 Aug 2024

Planned creative work is limited by one's means and imagination, while serendipitous work is unbounded by chance and the subconscious.

  1. Ming Thein Photographer and writer based in Malaysia who publishes long-form camera Planned images are limited by one's means and imagination. Serendipitous ones are unlimited by chance and one's subconscious. Full circleblog.mingthein.com · 30 Aug 2020
    Their wordsPlanned images are limited by one's means and imagination. Serendipitous ones are unlimited by chance and one's subconscious.

    ↗Full circleblog.mingthein.com

    30 Aug 2020

Creativity consists of curiosity combined with the foresight to imagine what a new combination of ideas could produce.

  1. Ming Thein Photographer and writer based in Malaysia who publishes long-form camera I believe creativity is really two parts: curiosity and the ability to not just ask "what if?", but also use some foresight to imagine the potential outcome. What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com · 15 Aug 2020
    Their wordsI believe creativity is really two parts: curiosity and the ability to not just ask "what if?", but also use some foresight to imagine the potential outcome.

    ↗What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com

    15 Aug 2020

Creativity is never created from nothing but is always a derivation from existing elements, with greater creativity meaning a more distant derivation.

  1. Ming Thein Photographer and writer based in Malaysia who publishes long-form camera creativity is never about making something out of nothing: it's always derivative in a way, even if 'more creativity' means a more distant derivation: 1+1=5, instead of 1+1=3. What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com · 15 Aug 2020
    Their wordscreativity is never about making something out of nothing: it's always derivative in a way, even if 'more creativity' means a more distant derivation: 1+1=5, instead of 1+1=3.

    ↗What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com

    15 Aug 2020

Making connections across different disciplines makes a person more creative.

  1. Ming Thein Photographer and writer based in Malaysia who publishes long-form camera The better a person is at making these cross-disciplinary connections, the more creative they tend to be. What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com · 15 Aug 2020
    Their wordsThe better a person is at making these cross-disciplinary connections, the more creative they tend to be.

    ↗What is creativity?blog.mingthein.com

    15 Aug 2020

A viewour reading

It needs room: constraints, solitude and time away from the grind

8 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

You can be creative within any set of constraints, so long as you understand what they are and get excited about them rather than resent them.

  1. Susan Kare Graphic designer and type designer usually I think you can be creative in any constraints. You can make some pretty fun art with beach trash while you're walking around. And this you can be creative, but it's good to understand what the constraints are, and then be excited about that as opposed to being upset that you don't have a thousand colors. Susan Kare: Designing Icons & Graphics For the Original Macyoutube.com · 14 Aug 2026 · 7:31 into the video
    Their wordsusually I think you can be creative in any constraints. You can make some pretty fun art with beach trash while you're walking around. And this you can be creative, but it's good to understand what the constraints are, and then be excited about that as opposed to being upset that you don't have a thousand colors.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 7:31 plays here

    ↗Susan Kare: Designing Icons & Graphics For the Original Macyoutube.com

    14 Aug 2026 · video · 51m · spoken · machine transcript

Working under a constraint one resents, rather than none at all, produces more creative results.

  1. Henrik Karlsson Swedish essayist who writes Escaping Flatland Giving yourself constraints is helpful when searching for ideas, especially if the constraints are annoying. On having more interesting ideas, pt. 2henrikkarlsson.xyz · 11 Aug 2026
    Their wordsGiving yourself constraints is helpful when searching for ideas, especially if the constraints are annoying.

    ↗On having more interesting ideas, pt. 2henrikkarlsson.xyz

    11 Aug 2026

His career only took off once he could close a door and see no one for long stretches; open offices flatlined his productivity and creativity.

  1. David Heinemeier Hansson Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals And in fact, when I look back upon my career, it only took off when I could close my door and not see anyone for long stretches of uninterrupted time. DHH: How to Build a Profitable Company Without Losing Controlyoutube.com · 26 Jul 2026 · 0:23:41 into the video
    Their wordsAnd in fact, when I look back upon my career, it only took off when I could close my door and not see anyone for long stretches of uninterrupted time.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:23:41 plays here

    ↗DHH: How to Build a Profitable Company Without Losing Controlyoutube.com

    26 Jul 2026 · video · 1h 41m · spoken · machine transcript

Interrupting a creative flow state to look up an answer destroys the flow that made the question worth asking in the first place.

  1. Kenneth Reitz Programmer, photographer and musician The questions worth asking arrive in flow, and flow is exactly the state that leaving the session destroys. Python, Inside JavaScript, Inside a DAWkennethreitz.org · 27 Jun 2026
    Their wordsThe questions worth asking arrive in flow, and flow is exactly the state that leaving the session destroys.

    ↗Python, Inside JavaScript, Inside a DAWkennethreitz.org

    27 Jun 2026

Reading fiction is necessary to an engineer's creative capacity; reading only technical books drains it

  1. Vicki Boykis Machine learning engineer working on recommender systems Yet, I also need to read fiction because if I only read tech books, they take away my creative energy rather than grant it, as fiction does. Favorite books of 2024vickiboykis.com · 31 Dec 2024
    Their wordsYet, I also need to read fiction because if I only read tech books, they take away my creative energy rather than grant it, as fiction does.

    ↗Favorite books of 2024vickiboykis.com

    31 Dec 2024

Grinding raises output briefly while destroying the creativity and big-picture thinking the work depends on.

  1. Cate Hall Former Supreme Court litigator and the top-ranked female… The reality is that grinding, even if it temporarily increases output, kills creativity and big picture thinking. How to be more agenticusefulfictions.substack.com · 10 Jan 2024
    Their wordsThe reality is that grinding, even if it temporarily increases output, kills creativity and big picture thinking.

    ↗How to be more agenticusefulfictions.substack.com

    10 Jan 2024

Long stretches of being disconnected are what make creative work possible

  1. David Heinemeier Hansson Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals Nothing invigorates the soul like seeing something come together out of nothing, and to do that, you need these long stretches of uninterrupted time Glorious days like theseworld.hey.com · 23 Jan 2023
    Their wordsNothing invigorates the soul like seeing something come together out of nothing, and to do that, you need these long stretches of uninterrupted time

    ↗Glorious days like theseworld.hey.com

    23 Jan 2023

A viewour reading

Machines can already be creative, perhaps more than people

4 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

Focusing on the 'stochastic parrot' aspect of AI models will cause one to miss their creativity and novel thinking.

  1. David Heinemeier Hansson Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals Don't get stuck on the stochastic parrot meme. You'll miss all the sparkling creativity and novel thinking in front of your eyes. @dhh on Xx.com · 25 Sept 2026
    Their wordsDon't get stuck on the stochastic parrot meme. You'll miss all the sparkling creativity and novel thinking in front of your eyes.

    ↗@dhh on Xx.com

    25 Sept 2026

AI can manufacture monotony, but it is also the greatest creative catalyst there has ever been.

Filed here becauseGrants the monotony, and still calls it the greatest catalyst.

  1. Katie Dill Head of Design at Stripe Yes, AI can help us manufacture monotony, but it is also the greatest creative catalyst we've ever had. How to scale intent, quality, and artistry with Al | Katie Dill (Stripe) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com · 10 Sept 2026 · 16:32 into the video
    Their wordsYes, AI can help us manufacture monotony, but it is also the greatest creative catalyst we've ever had.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 16:32 plays here

    ↗How to scale intent, quality, and artistry with Al | Katie Dill (Stripe) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

    10 Sept 2026 · video · 21m · spoken · machine transcript

The probabilistic nature of AI models is what makes them well suited to creative tasks

  1. Chip Huyen Engineer and writer on machine-learning systems This probabilistic nature makes AI great for creative tasks. Generation configurations: temperature, top-k, top-p, and test time computehuyenchip.com · 16 Jan 2024
    Their wordsThis probabilistic nature makes AI great for creative tasks.

    ↗Generation configurations: temperature, top-k, top-p, and test time computehuyenchip.com

    16 Jan 2024

A viewour reading

Machines produce sameness; the new ideas still come from people

6 claims filed here, newest first — each in the words of whoever said it.

AI progress is jagged: models are becoming superhuman at math and software engineering while remaining far weaker at intuition, creativity, and other forms of human reasoning.

  1. Nathan Lambert Machine-learning researcher on open language models AI has always been very jagged, and we are making models which are superhuman goal-seekers at math and software engineering, but they have massive limitations on intuitions, creativity, and other types of reasoning that humans are strong at. One resignation turned the embers of AI fear into a wildfireinterconnects.ai · 10 Sept 2026
    Their wordsAI has always been very jagged, and we are making models which are superhuman goal-seekers at math and software engineering, but they have massive limitations on intuitions, creativity, and other types of reasoning that humans are strong at.

    ↗One resignation turned the embers of AI fear into a wildfireinterconnects.ai

    10 Sept 2026

AI models generate more commercially viable ideas than groups of humans, but those ideas are highly similar to each other.

Filed here becauseMore ideas than people produce, and very alike: it sits here for the second half.

  1. Ethan Mollick Professor at Wharton studying how people actually use AI We found that AIs are actually quite creative and that they generate more commercially viable ideas than groups of humans, but those ideas are very similar to each other. Agency and Agentsoneusefulthing.org · 31 Aug 2026
    Their wordsWe found that AIs are actually quite creative and that they generate more commercially viable ideas than groups of humans, but those ideas are very similar to each other.

    ↗Agency and Agentsoneusefulthing.org

    31 Aug 2026

People should be skeptical of outsourcing creativity to LLMs.

  1. Lincoln Michel Novelist and critic, author of The Body Scout and Metallic… this is one reason why I'm skeptical of outsourcing your creativity to LLMs. Stitching Up the Creature; Or, the Horrors of Revisioncountercraft.substack.com · 10 Aug 2026
    Their wordsthis is one reason why I'm skeptical of outsourcing your creativity to LLMs.

    ↗Stitching Up the Creature; Or, the Horrors of Revisioncountercraft.substack.com

    10 Aug 2026

Today's AI systems are highly capable at engineering but lack the intuitive creativity needed to be good researchers, tending toward rote, formulaic thinking.

  1. Jack Clark Co-founder and head of policy at Anthropic Research papers like this continue to show that there's a certain absence of valuable, intuitive creativity in today's AI systems, and though they're extraordinarily capable engineers they seem to have a certain property of rote, formulaic thinking that might prevent them being good researchers. Import AI 467: Self-sustaining AI viruses; pacing AI progress; confusion about AI and creativityjack-clark.net · 3 Aug 2026
    Their wordsResearch papers like this continue to show that there's a certain absence of valuable, intuitive creativity in today's AI systems, and though they're extraordinarily capable engineers they seem to have a certain property of rote, formulaic thinking that might prevent them being good researchers.

    ↗Import AI 467: Self-sustaining AI viruses; pacing AI progress; confusion about AI and creativityjack-clark.net

    3 Aug 2026

AI-assisted writing creates an illusion of greater creativity while actually reducing the originality of the ideas expressed.

  1. Adam Grant Organizational psychologist and professor at the Wharton School although students' personal statements seem more creative because they use more varied words, they actually feature less original ideas. AI writing produces an illusion of creativity. The Must-Read Articles of the Monthadamgrant.substack.com · 22 Jun 2026
    Their wordsalthough students' personal statements seem more creative because they use more varied words, they actually feature less original ideas. AI writing produces an illusion of creativity.

    ↗The Must-Read Articles of the Monthadamgrant.substack.com

    22 Jun 2026

Language models will not replace good ideas, only the low-level work, so what they threaten is the ability to start a creative career rather than to have one.

  1. Dan Houser Co-founder of Rockstar Games They’re not going to, they’re not going to replace good ideas. They can’t really come up with good new ideas. What they can do is do low-level stuff. So I think it’s going to be harder for people to start out in some of these spaces. Dan Houser: GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Absurd & Future of Gaming | Lex Fridman Podcast #484youtube.com · 31 Oct 2025 · 0:38:22 into the video
    Their wordsThey’re not going to, they’re not going to replace good ideas. They can’t really come up with good new ideas. What they can do is do low-level stuff. So I think it’s going to be harder for people to start out in some of these spaces.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:38:22 plays here

    ↗Dan Houser: GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Absurd & Future of Gaming | Lex Fridman Podcast #484youtube.com

    31 Oct 2025 · video · 2h 45m · spoken · official transcript

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