Humans are unique among all other species in having one cognitive attribute-the ability, almost without conscious effort, to engage in blending. This is the first book that brings the theory of blending to a wide audience and shows how blending is at the heart of the origin of ideas.

1. Where Do Ideas Come From? ; 2. Who Are You? ; 3. Who Am I? ; 4. Forbidden Fruit ; 5. The Artful Mind ; 6. The Sweep of Thought ; 7. Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe ; 8. Round and Round and Round We Go ; 9. Final Questions ; References ; Index

"Turner makes a cogent and often colorfully argued case for blending's importance as crucial to the development of new ideas and imaginative works." --Publishers Weekly "Turner probes the nature of creativity. He does apply 'blending' to such complex topics as 'self,' identity,' and 'theory of mind' in a reader-friendly style that encompasses neurobiology, cartoons, Picasso, and Winnie-the-Pooh. Recommended. All readers." --S. Krippner, CHOICE Magazine "Mark Turner, in his new book The Origin of Ideas: Blending, Creativity, and the Human Spark, describes, in a wealth of fascinating detail, his view that humans are innovative and good at creative thinking due to the ability of our brains to blend two or more ideas and create a new idea. Only when evolution gave us brains with this new ability could we make vast cultural advances. . . . While The Origin of Ideas is not a simple book, and the concept of blending is much more sophisticated than it may seem initially, Turner leads the reader step by step, using familiar concepts to enhance understanding of those more complex. If you're intrigued by how creativity happens, this smoothly written volume should be in your collection." --Psychology Today "Mark Turner should be named poet laureate of cognitive science. In The Origin of Ideas, Turner presents a cognitive science of creative thought using persuasive examples from areas such as cognitive linguistics and neuroscience. He argues how creative thinking, in the form of advanced conceptual blending, underlies human endeavors ranging from ancient sculpture to modern economics. In this manner, Turner profoundly describes a key step in the grand scope of human cognitive development-an achievement he carries out with sparkling clarity and inimitable panache." --D. Fox Harrell, Associate Professor of Digital Media, Comparative Media Studies Program & Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT.

Selling point: Introduces the concept of "advanced blending" as an idea-generating tool unique to humans Selling point: Defines the very nature of humankind, as distinct from other animals, by way of its ability to innovate Selling point: Moves from individual mental phenomena to related cultural phenomena Selling point: For lay readers of popular science, neuroscience, and creativity; students (even at a high-school level) in psychology, cognitive science, and anthropology

Mark Turner, Ph.D., is Institute Professor and Professor of Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University. He is the founding director of the Cognitive Science Network and co-director of the Red Hen Lab. His most recent book publications are Ten Lectures on Mind and Language and two edited volumes, The Artful Mind: Cognitive Science and The Riddle of Human Creativity, from Oxford University Press, and Meaning, Form, & Body, edited with Fey Parrill and Vera Tobin, published by the Center for the Study of Language and Information. His other books and articles include Cognitive Dimensions of Social Science: The Way We Think about Politics, Economics, Law, and Society, The Literary Mind: The Origins of Thought and Language, Reading Minds: The Study of English in the Age of Cognitive Science, and Death is the Mother of Beauty. He has been a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the National Humanities Center, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Advanced Study of Durham University, and the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. He is a fellow of the Institute for the Science of Origins, external research professor at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study in Cognitive Neuroscience, distinguished fellow at the New England Institute for Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Psychology, and Extraordinary Member of the Humanwissenschaftsliches Zentrum. In 1996, the Académie française awarded him the Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises.

Selling point: Introduces the concept of "advanced blending" as an idea-generating tool unique to humans Selling point: Defines the very nature of humankind, as distinct from other animals, by way of its ability to innovate Selling point: Moves from individual mental phenomena to related cultural phenomena Selling point: For lay readers of popular science, neuroscience, and creativity; students (even at a high-school level) in psychology, cognitive science, and anthropology