Muse.

Is inspiration contagious? Do inspired works of art inspire the audience? There is a long tradition in the humanities that suggests it does. Plato once argued that inspiration is transmitted to the audience through the Muse. Remarkably, however, this has only just been tested scientifically.

In a recent study, Todd Thrash and colleagues conducted the first ever test of "inspiration contagion," using poetry as the vehicle. They looked at specific qualities of a text and the qualities of the reader. It's a rich study, with 36,020 interactions between all of the variables! 

Here are the essential findings ...

CONNECT