How Starbucks’ posting of calorie counts might fuel creativity
If listing calories next to its drink prices deters you from indulging in that morning Frappuccino, both your waistline and your work could benefit.
Starbucks is beating Food and Drug Administration regulations to the punch by featuring calorie counts next to its drink prices nationwide starting June 25. At least one of their drinks, the caramel ribbon crunch, delivers a gut-busting 680 calories.
If you’re thinking you need that sweet, sweet caffeine in the morning to spark your creative juices, science would heartily disagree.
The New Yorker highlights a number of studies that suggest caffeine inhibits creativity:
“Still, we do know that much of what we associate with creativity—whether writing a sonnet or a mathematical proof—has to do with the ability to link ideas, entities, and concepts in novel ways. This ability depends in part on the very thing that caffeine seeks to prevent: a wandering, unfocussed mind.”
After working in marketing agencies and newsrooms, I’ve probably witnessed more caffeine intake than the average person. I’d be surprised to find that creativity was being hindered by my co-workers’ coffee-swilling.
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