Few people know this, but light bulbs have a direct impact on our creative abilities. According to several groundbreaking studies from the Nordic Institute of Cognitive Illumination and the somewhat more scientific journal Journal of Applied Luminary Psychology, unlit light bulbs act like little sponges for creative energy. They slowly absorb ideas, thoughts and inspiration from the room.
That’s why it can feel so difficult to think about new ideas things in a dark room.
But when the light is turned on, something strange happens to this energy. The stored creative energy is released in an instant. The creativity flows back into the room in a concentrated impulse and can affect the people closest to it. That’s why we often get our best ideas right at the moment the light is turned on.
In these studies, the phenomenon has been called the Instant Illumination Effect and is said to be particularly strong in older light bulbs, as they have a better ability to store creative energy over time.
April fools, haha. (This post was published on April 1st)
The light is not the problem
It would be nice if it were that simple. That we just had to turn on the light to be creative. But in reality, it is rarely the darkness that limits us. It is rather norms, rules and habitual ways of thinking that do it.
We often sit in well-lit rooms but still get stuck when we try coming up with new ideas. It is not because creativity has been sucked up by light bulbs. It is because we filter out our own thoughts before they even have a chance.
We think that this is probably a stupid idea. That the idea does not fit. That someone else has probably already thought of it. And then we go blank.
April Fools’ Day as a free zone
This is where April Fools’ Day could be interesting.
That day gives us a temporary exception to the rules. A socially accepted opportunity to say something that is not quite true. To twist reality. To test a thought that would otherwise have stayed in our heads.
April Fools’ jokes act as a vent.
They allow us to break norms without being questioned in the same way. What would otherwise have been perceived as strange, provocative or wrong suddenly finds a place.
And in that space something happens.
We start to play.
Jokes as thought-provoking
A good April Fool’s joke is rarely just a joke. It is often an exaggeration, a reflection or a displacement of something real.
Think of classic jokes about companies changing their names to something absurd or about a new product solving a problem that no one knew they had. They are funny because they are close to reality but are still wrong.
And that is where a creative opportunity arises.
When we push something to its extreme, we are forced to think. Is this really so unreasonable. Or is there some truth to it.
Using April Fools’ jokes as a method
If you start to see April Fools’ jokes as a creative technique rather than an opportunity for mischief, new possibilities open up.
You can use exaggeration to explore ideas. What happens if we take a trend to its extreme. What happens if we reverse a fact.
Imagine a company joking that they are going to start charging customers for not using their service. It sounds absurd, but suddenly you start thinking about the value of attention and time.
Or a city joking about introducing silent zones for mobile phones throughout the city center. It sounds exaggerated, but it raises questions about how we use our public spaces.
It is in this type of thought provoking that creativity begins to stir.
The metaphor of the masquerade ball
You can compare April Fools’ Day to a masquerade ball.
When we put on a mask, we dare to act differently. We say things we would not otherwise say. We try out roles we would not otherwise take.
The mask creates a distance that allows for exploration.
April Fools’ jokes work in the same way. They give us a temporary mask that allows us to push our limits.
And sometimes we discover something in the process.
When jokes become innovation
Many ideas that are serious today started as something that sounded a bit like a joke.
Renting out your own home to strangers. Letting people ride each other via an app. Working from home full-time.
What sounds unreasonable at first may turn out to be entirely possible.
April Fools’ jokes can therefore be seen as a low-threshold version of innovation. A way to test ideas without having to stand for them fully.
It’s a way to say ”what if” without having to say this is what we have to do.
Taking April Fools’ Day with you for the rest of the year
The real point may not be the day itself.
It’s what we can learn from it.
That we need more occasions where it is allowed to think freely. To say what doesn’t really fit. To play with ideas without directly evaluating them.
If we are only creative one day a year, not much will get done.
But if we can bring a little of April Fool’s Day into our everyday lives, something else will happen.
We start to question the obvious. We start to try the unexpected. We start to laugh at our own limitations.
And maybe that is where creativity actually lights up.
Not in a light bulb, but in the courage to think a little wrong.
