The Sonophilian

Birgit Gebhardt, an independent trend researcher for whom the future of work is paramount, questions what makes us human. Is it our emotions, our communication skills, or perhaps the ways we learn, grow, and explore in our work and personal spaces? Is it a mixture of all these factors combined?

Creativity and insight are tightly bound in nature. They go hand in hand. The research into insight problem solving is an ongoing endeavor, one which inherently requires innovative methods and a constant vigilance to our senses. Dr. Amory Danek, a cognitive psychologist and researcher at Heidelberg University, is this year’s recipient of the Sonophilia Foundation Research Stipend for her exception...

We often consider a Eureka moment to be the peak of solving any given problem, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. This a-ha experience is only the consequence for a complex concept known as insight. Maxi Becker, a post-doctoral researcher at the Humboldt University of Berlin and an honored recipient of the Sonophilia Foundation Research stipend, is particularly adept at breaking insight...

With 30 years of experience as a stereographer, a VFX and VR supervisor for such clients as Warner Brothers, Disney, Pixar, and Paramount, Angus has in the past worked on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, No Time to Die, King Kong and Gravity. It was through this work that a more holistic approach to his creative projects took root. His career in the film industry was a stepping stone that...

Yoga is about channeling our energy and manifesting our personal experience of creativity. For Nadja Dinzl, life is a game of balance. Being a yoga instructor and an HR lawyer at the University of Vienna, she knows a thing or two about what it takes to offset seemingly polar aspects of her existence, both in a physical and a spiritual sense. In her search for something to quiet her mind in a very...

Having tried and failed several times in his endeavors, Bruce’s success story is multifaceted, and his work is tridimensional. First, he actively mentors approximately 15 startups from around the world in various topics and fields, such as machine learning, VR treadmills, location-based services for warehousing, medical devices, and medical learning. This component stemmed from his own experience...

Breaking taboos and lifting the veil of ignorance will be the shining light in a world fighting to remain in darkness. The scope and popularity of the porn industry are rarely discussed openly, although porn is enjoyed by a vast majority. As the co-founder and creative director of the Porn Film Festival in Vienna, as well as the creative director at the Transition International Queer & Min...

The Universe is constantly sending out signals for creativity and inviting us to choose an organic, sometimes winding, path in life. Having immersed herself in the study of evolutionary patterns for decades, Eve Konstantine has led what she calls “the life of a seeker”. Questions about who we are as a species, what our purpose is here on this planet, and where we’re going have been at the epicente...

For Yoed Kenett, a professor of cognitive neuroscience based at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, asking questions is what makes the world go round. He explores associate thought knowledge and how creativity works in the brain. In a nutshell, he believes that what matters is the questions themselves rather than the answers.

Creativity, to Theo, is a leadership model. In the contexts of novelty and value creation, he believes creativity emerges from both divergent and convergent thinking processes. In essence, he reflects on what creativity itself predicts, rather than the other way around. This impression ties back into his commitment to the emerging role of the artist in the world, as a creativity-based leader in fi...

“To survive we need food, sex, and creativity - and you need the last one to get either of the first two, so we know which is most important!”  To foster creativity, we need to promote a culture of play beyond childhood, beyond a place of leisure. In our society this is undoubtedly a tricky proposition, but one that Ralph Talmont believes is essential for innovation and problem-solving on a g...

Meet the first-ever recipient of the Sonophilia Foundation Summer Scholarship for Outstanding Young Scientists in Creativity Research Hannah Merseal. Improvisation, particularly in musical composition, is the heart and soul of her research focus.  As a neuroscience and creativity scholar at Roger Beaty's Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity Lab at Penn State University, Hannah studies the cog...

Listen to Prof. Adam Green, the president of the Society for Neuroscience of Creativity, as he talks about the new methods and developments in neuroimaging technologies as well as in neuroscience that might be of help to more people to reach new heights in their creative abilities and to unleash their creative potential.

Learning is a lifelong process. This mantra encapsulates the essence of what makes or breaks a young business. After all, arrogance begets ignorance. The founder and CEO of Silicon Castles, Andreas Spechtler is a Sonophilian by heart and an advisor for startups by nature.

Where do creative ideas come from? How does the brain piece together information in new ways to solve problems? What brain regions and networks are involved in our ability to come up with new ideas? In the Sonophilia Foundation’s goal to answer such perplexing questions and make the study of creativity a tangible science, our partnership with Penn State University introduced us to a valuable addit...

Sometimes, it’s the opportunities that jump out at us unexpectedly that tend to have the most impact on our lifelong paths. Stefan Beckers, the chief program engineer at Ford Motor Company, is a strong advocate for bringing more creative and critical thinking into all realms of life.

“Music and creativity – especially music – is just the language which allows us to express things in a logic way, in an immediate way,” Walter told Sonophilia. “We don't find the words for it. I'd rather express myself with sound and music than with words. I think creativity is a need. We need to express ourselves. And we’ve always had that need.” 

Billy Andrews is the Sonophilia Pioneer! He is a Gold-status singer who has held hits in Germany's Top 10 Charts and sold over 200,000 albums. As one of the most innovative musicians of his generation Billy Andrews creatively connects the worlds of artificial intelligence and 3D printing, classical and rock music. 

Culture is to knowledge as creativity is to joy. There is a human side to every creative endeavor. The trick is to locate it, to make creativity indispensable to our very being. Franziska Wizany, the cultural advisor at Saxon Mozart Society, formerly the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg – the birthplace of Mozart – doesn't take for granted what it takes to bring forth the man behind the music. And...

Man and machine. Artist and computer. Analog and digital. Where is the point of intersection between these elements and how do they coalesce? Polish-born and Berlin-based painter Roman Lipski has made it his life’s work to redefine what it means to be an artist.

A sense of togetherness in a virtual world. During the global lockdown that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, messages of unity, compassion, understanding, and trust were widespread and continue to be so, even as many institutions and events reopen. Whether in education, in banking, in healthcare, in business, the concept of remote work slammed into our lives with a sledgehammer-like force, kno...

As the conversations surrounding AI evolve and move past the all-encompassing, purely fear-inducing images of the Terminator, Trent predicts that AI will undoubtedly replace many blue-collar jobs, white-collar jobs, and many professions in between. Trent McConaghy wholly believes, however, that we must separate the idea of our work from the more pressing issue of leading a meaningful life.

“I am not a huge believer in this slogan that robots will take our jobs… Automation is a tool to bring efficiency and make certain processes better. If a process is great and you automate the process, then you might come to the next level of greatness. Of course, you will not save businesses just with automation; you might improve or reduce certain tasks, augment them… Start with the business ques...

“There are three main essential insights I've gained. First, development is closely linked to the ability to shape things yourself. Let people do instead of limiting their creativity by setting strict limits. Second, good cooperation is important. Until now, humanity has worked best when it worked as a team. Third, respect individual needs and personal goals, particularly because in large companie...

“Creativity, especially in my work, is really about connecting the dots to see the bigger picture. Sometimes it's important to step just one step back and see what is happening, how things are happening, why they're happening, and how they can be addressed. Creativity is really using all your senses and knowledge together with your experience and experience from others, from other disciplines and...