In 1959 Issac Asimov wrote an essay on where new idea come from . It was n’t found until fifty - five years later , when Arthur Obermayer , scientist and friend of Asimov , cleaned out some of his old file . It is as shed light on now as it was then .
In the introduction of the essay , published in full by theMIT Technology Review , Obermeyer explains how this has remained unseen for so long . Obermeyer became involved in a enquiry group funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency ( ARPA ) “ to draw out the most creative approaches potential for a ballistic missile defense mechanism system . ” Obermeyer suggested Asimov , who leave behind the group with worry that access to classified information would circumscribe his exemption of expression .
The only thing he left was an essay , called “ On creative thinking , ” which was never seen outdoors of the research radical . First Asimov asks where new ideas come from , using Darwin and Alfred Wallace as lens of the eye to view how just take in information was not enough , it was the ability to touch base the dots of that noesis .
The ability to make connections that others miss is call by Asimov a “ rare calibre ” possess by only those willing to “ face of reasonableness , authority , and common good sense ” and who have the “ considerable self - sureness ” to do so . Therefore , the rarefied quality will appear out of sorts to others :
Since he occurs only rarely , he must seem eccentric ( in at least that regard ) to the rest of us . A soul gonzo in one deference is often outlandish in others .
therefore , the person who is most likely to get new idea is a person of good background in the orbit of pursuit and one who is unconventional in his habits . ( To be a screwball is not , however , enough in itself . )
Once Asimov give the case of multitude able to be creative and come up new ideas , he turns to whether they should puzzle out alone or in group . And , if you have a group , how should they work ?
Asimov is not a devotee of collective creativity :
My touch sensation is that as far as creativity is relate , closing off is required . The creative person is , in any case , continually process at it . His mind is shuffle his information at all times , even when he is not conscious of it . ( The famous example of Kekule mold out the structure of benzene in his sleep is well - known . )
The presence of others can only inhibit this process , since creation is awkward . For every new good idea you have , there are a hundred , ten thousand foolish ones , which you of course do not care to display .
The purpose of groups , according to Asimov , is to “ train the participants in fact and fact - combinations , in theories and vagrant mentation ” and not to cogitate up new idea . He also says that , even if a possible participant has the most info , a dismissive or minus mental attitude would poison the atmosphere of sharing . He also say that an individual of great repute might dominate the way , and could process equally well on his own .
He advises keep the radical humble and , in what I will admit rings the true to me , adds :
For safe determination , there should be a feeling of informality . Joviality , the use of first names , jest , relaxed kidding are , I call back , of the heart — not in themselves , but because they encourage a willingness to be involved in the lunacy of creativeness . For this purpose I think a encounter in someone ’s home or over a dinner mesa at some restaurant is perhaps more utile than one in a league way .
Probably more inhibiting than anything else is a feeling of duty . The slap-up melodic theme of the ages have come from multitude who were n’t paid to have great ideas , but were paid to be teachers or patent clerk or niggling official , or were not pay up at all . The great ideas came as side issues .
To finger guilty because one has not earn one ’s salary because one has not had a big idea is the surest way , it seems to me , of making it sure that no great idea will total in the next time either .
Not that anyone ’s creative process is any better or spoiled than anyone else ’s , but sitting with a well-disposed group spitballing ideas , when no musical theme is too unintelligent to at least get hear , has always been some of the most stimulating environments for me .
Asimov adds something that has only become more true since he wrote it fifty - five years ago :
Yet your company is conduct this thought process program on government money . To think of congressmen or the general public hearing about scientists fooling around , boondoggle , telling unsporting jokes , perhaps , at government activity disbursement , is to discover into a cold sweat . In fact , the average scientist has enough public conscience not to want to feel he is doing this even if no one find out .
Given how skill financial support isalready attacked , can you even imagine the reaction to pursue Asimov ’s blueprint ?
Read the whole essayhere . [ viaSalon ]
Photo Credit : AP Photo / Mario Suriani
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