Have you ever been to a comedy club where you were the only one laughing at the comedian? Or a film where you walked out and said “How did that get 5 stars?” Well, it seems that art is truly in the eye of the beholder. One man’s treasure is another man’s trash. But what if science could determine the key to being a successful artist?

Does Science Hold the Key to Being a Successful Artist?

Scientists are attempting to use transcranial stimulation. By sending electrical impulses to certain parts of the brain they think they can improve creativity. A person can look at that same comedian or that same movie and find it pleasurable instead of repulsive.

Scientists have been prodding and poking the brain for years now trying to unlock the keys to our deepest feelings, desires, thoughts and emotions. Some of their recent experiments have even shown that by stimulating certain parts of the brain, subjects were able to solve math problems they could never do before. And helped musicians learn how to play a new instrument faster.

This leads me to wonder. “Would you be willing to have your head dissected if you knew you might come out of it being able to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix?

Lightning Strike Turns Man Into a Composer

Tony Cicoria, an orthopaedic surgeon was struck by lightning at a New York park. The lightning went through his head and changed his life. He was never into playing the piano, but the lightning strike gave him a passion for the instrument. First he played other people’s music and now he composes his own.

Transcranial Stimulation

Of course, transcranial stimulation is noninvasive. Many of these studies are more likely to help scientists come up with better treatments for depression than to turn a fledgling artist into a rock star.

After all, when you think about it, being depressed really sucks the joy out of life in general. You lose the ability to find joy in most anything, much less a painting, a film or even a comedy act. So it stands to reason that if you are in a great mood you just might be more likely to find that abstract painting beautiful.

Unfortunately for now there isn’t a magic pill you can take to turn you into the next Keith Richards or Eric Clapton. But you can bet that scientists will keep trying.