David Epstein: Discipline sets creativity free | Full Interview

Purchase @DavidEpsteinAuthor's latest book, Inside the Box

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more

Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►

Up next, What 85 years of research says is the real key to happiness | Robert WaldingerFull Interview ►

David Epstein, author of Range and Inside the Box, walks through decades of research exploring why constraints, not freedom, are the engine behind creativity, focus, and breakthrough.

Read the video transcript ►

© Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go Deeper with Big Think:

►Become a Big Think Youtube Member

Get exclusive classes and early, adfree access to new releases without leaving Youtube.

►Become a Big Think Web Member

Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more.

►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack

Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox.

►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify

Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About David Epstein:

David Epstein is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World and The Sports Gene.

He was the host of Slate’s popular How To! podcast and a science and investigative reporter at ProPublica. Prior, he was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, where he co-authored the story that revealed Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez had used steroids. His writing has been honored by many organizations, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Center on Disability and Journalism, and has been included in the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. His story “Following the Trail of Broken Hearts,” on sudden cardiac death in athletes, was chosen as one of the top 100 stories of the last 100 years by Columbia Journalism alumni.

Epstein has given talks about performance science and the uses (and misuses) of data globally; his TED Talks have been viewed more than 11 million times. Three of his stories have been optioned for films.

Epstein has master’s degrees in environmental science and journalism and co-authored a paper in the journal of Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research while a writer at Sports Illustrated. He has worked as an ecology researcher in the Arctic, studied geology and astronomy while residing in the Sonoran Desert, and blithely signed up to work on the D-deck of a seismic research vessel shortly after it had been attacked by pirates.

Epstein has enjoyed volunteering with the Pat Tillman Foundation and Classroom Champions, and he is currently on the board of directors of Jubilee JumpStart, an early-childhood education center focused on families with the least access. An avid runner, he was a Columbia University record holder and twice honored as NCAA All-East as an 800-meter runner.