Our creative potential is nearly shut down by early schooling. Teachers are the first to admit this. In kindergarten, all the kids are artists and inventors. Starting in the first grade, the kids have to work all the time. There’s no more time for fun, because there’s so much they’ve got to learn. They’re rarely allowed to daydream any more. It’s a wonder that any of them ever grow up to be artists or inventors.

When it comes to creativity, myths keep most people firmly rooted. Only artists have creativity, and creativity is rare, we’re told. Creativity is mysterious and magical and divine, people say. Creativity, in short, is not something mystical; it’s an extension of what you already know. To be more specific, new behaviors (or “ideas”) emerge as old behaviors interact, and the process by which behaviors interact is orderly.