Oliver Sacks, Casting Light on the Interconnectedness of Life

It’s no coincidence that so many of the qualities that made Oliver Sacks such a brilliant writer are the same qualities that made him an ideal doctor: keen powers of observation and a devotion to detail, deep reservoirs of sympathy, and an intuitive understanding of the fathomless mysteries of the human brain and the intricate connections between the body and the mind.

Dr. Sacks, who died on Sunday at 82, was a polymath and an ardent humanist, and whether he was writing about his patients, or his love of chemistry or the power of music, he leapfrogged among disciplines, shedding light on the strange and wonderful interconnectedness of life — the connections between science and art, physiology and psychology, the beauty and economy of the natural world and the magic of the human imagination.

That's how Michiko Kakutani's examination of Oliver Sack's life begins in today's The New York Times. Sacks was the very embodiment of smarter creativity. 

Wil Reynolds: The Hidden Danger of Confusing Outputs for Outcome

Reynolds started Seer Interactive—a leading SEO and online marketing agency—in a small apartment back in 2002. Since then, the company has grown to more than 100 people. But scaling the company was not without its growing pains. In this energetic talk, Reynolds shares how he learned to put a "lid on his hustle" and made sure his values weren't compromised as his company grew. "Getting things done means giving things up," he says. "It can't all fit. You need to have the border."

Kelly Sue DeConnick: Make Them Uncomfortable

For more than a decade, Kelly Sue DeConnick has worked as a leading writer in the world of comic books, most notably on Captain Marvel and Bitch Planet. Through her career, DeConnick has found that the best way to inspire, lead, bring people together, and motivate those who need a push is to make them uncomfortable. In this 99U talk, she shares her “Five Steps to Becoming a Professional Discomfort Provider.”

Christoph Niemann: How to Overcome the 3 Fears Every Creative Faces

There are three primary fears creatives, like artist, illustrator, and author Christoph Niemann, face: the fear of not being good enough, the fear that our work will be irrelevant, and the fear of running out of ideas. Niemann explains how these fears are very real, but that there are solutions we can apply to each.

Stop Trying To Be Creative→

Christie Aschwanden for FiveThirtyEight Science: 

Most creative geniuses don’t start with a specific goal and follow it through with deliberate practice, said Scott Barry Kaufman, scientific director of the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. Instead, they maintain an openness to discovering whatever arises.