Albert Einstein spent ten years struggling to solve the mysteries of time. Then, one evening in 1905, he heard a great clock strike. He pictured himself on a tram moving away at lightspeed. In a flash, he found the solution he was seeking.¹

Einstein was a genius. But physicist Tim Palmer says these "leaps of imagination" make us human. Exciting research shows our brains are noisy places. And this makes us creative.

In science, noise means random meaningless data. Scientists try to avoid it in their experiments. But Palmer thinks they can make computers more accurate by adding random numbers. He is inspired by the human brain.

Every second, 80 billion neuronsNeurons, also known as nerve cells, are cells in the nervous system that use chemical or electrical signals to transmit information throughout the body.  process many gigabytes of data. It's "mind-bogglingly impressive", says Palmer. Far beyond the world's fastest supercomputers.

It can be hard to stay focused with so much going on in our brains. Our minds wander, we get confused and daydream.

In his book Thinking Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman says some kinds of problems need your full undivided attention. "Anything that occupies your working memory," he writes, "reduces your ability to think."

Psychologist Nick Perham says students perform worse in distracting environments. And studies suggest periods of silence help the brain grow cells linked to memory and learning.

However, other research recommends background noise to make the mind work harder.² "Instead of burying oneself in a quiet room," says researcher Ravi Mehta, "a noisy environment like a cafe may trigger the brain to think abstractlyNot based on practical or concrete examples, instead based on general theory and thinking. ."

Multitasking creates a lot of "crazy ideas", says Tim Palmer. Many will be bad. Afterwards, we use quiet analysis to reject the worst ideas and find the best. It is a balance between creative and rational thought.

A common belief is that people are either right or left-brained. If you have an analytical mind, your left side is dominant. If your right side is stronger, you are creative and artistic.

Experts say this is a myth. Brain imaging shows that different types of thinking use both sides of the brain. Science needs creativity as well as logic. And great art is created by precise thinking.

The world is noisy and distracting. Many try to find focus in meditation. But are there also creative benefits to a busy life?

Yes:  If you shut yourself away without any distractions, your thoughts will spiral in circles and go nowhere. To be inspired, you need a bit of chaos.

No: You cannot be creative if you do not finish things. Modern life has too many distractions and insufficient space to focus and get things done. We need silence to concentrate and think clearly.

Or...  A flash of inspiration is a misleading idea. Einstein's brainwave came after years of hard work. Creativity is a long process of learning, practice and reflection. It needs both a noisy and a quiet brain.