The Genius Greenhouse

Jonah Lehrer wonders how 5th century BCE Athens and 16th century Florence became such hotbeds of genius, and comes up with a three part plan: 1) people mixing, where lots of people and ideas are constantly on the move, 2) promote education and other "meta innovations" and 3) support risk-taking.

As T. S. Eliot once remarked, the great ages did not contain more talent. They wasted less.

Check out the rest of the article in Wired. He's got a forthcoming book on creativity as well. I've already pre-ordered my copy.