Caffeine can cramp creativity

“Sparks shoot all the way up to the brain” while “ideas quick-march into motion like battalions of a grand army to its legendary fighting ground, and the battle rages.”

That’s how Balzac described the effects of drinking coffee (and it’s tough to question his expertise on the topic as he famously downed the equivalent of 50 cups a day). We know caffeine can make us more energetic and increase our ability to concentrate. But does it also prevent the “wandering, unfocussed mind” that leads to creativity? From the New Yorker’s Maria Konnikova: How Caffeine Can Cramp Creativity.

• food
• Maria Konnikova