Circuit Idea/In the Realm of Chance

From the previous stories of the series The Secret of Invention, we already know that:

• We must clear the inventive task of unnecessary constraints in advance.
• Once we have specified the task, I need to imagine the "ideal solution".
• The next stage of solving the inventive task will go faster if we "caught" the moment of inspiration, but it should not be relied on alone.

At this stage the inventor thinks quite differently from the normal person, guided by the following most general principles.

Suppressing criticism and self-criticism

According to the way of thinking, people can be divided into two groups: some generate ideas ("generators") but do not know how to analyze them, and others do not generate ideas but have a tendency to critical analysis ("analyzers"). This division is too conditional because each person possesses the qualities of both "generator" and "analyzer" but to varying degrees.

In the second stage of the inventive process, only ideas are generated! Any attempts at analysis "kill" new ideas in the bud and are absolutely forbidden!

If you are a "generator", you will have no problems at this stage, but if you are an "analyzer", it takes a great effort of will not to give in to your natural urge to self-criticize. In the most general case, when both "roles" are equally successfully assigned to you, you will have to divide them in time (at this stage you will be a "generator", and at the next - an "analyzer"). These considerations lead to the idea of introducing a division of labor into the inventive process. A kind of assembly line can be organized in which some generate the ideas and others analyze them. This is actually the so-called "brainstorming" - a method of collective creativity.

Figurative (picture) thinking

Each subject is born with a specific name that distinguishes it from other subjects. If we name it - the idea of the corresponding subject immediately arises in our mind. Often the name also corresponds to the purpose (for example, a vacuum cleaner, a headset, etc.). For human communication this is convenient and necessary but for inventive creativity - harmful. Words, names and technical terms direct thought in the old direction - prevent it from flowing freely. We will support this statement with an example.

Suppose you need a gas under high pressure (for example, for an interesting physics experiment). You also have a simple siphon for carbonated water. So, you are sitting at the table, drinking soda, and mulling over the problem. And in fact, the solution is right in front of you. It is enough just to free yourself from habitual thinking and you may come up with an interesting idea - to use the siphon instead of the source you need. For this purpose, it is enough just not to pour water into it.

The conclusion is that new ideas come to him who succeeds in freeing himself from the established classification of subjects. Think without words - easy to say, but how to do it?

One of the possibilities that will help you free yourself from the shackles of the word is to develop in yourself the ability of figurative thinking (spatial temporal imagination).

In the consciousness of each of us, as on an internal screen, visual images are projected, which are distinguished by such plasticity and flexibility that words do not possess. On this magical screen it is possible to depict everything - existing and non-existent, past, present and future. Objects of projection can be devices, constructions, circuits, drawings, graphs, diagrams, etc. All of them can be presented statically (similar to slides) or dynamically (motion picture), planar or volumetric, and in a variety of colors. Use this wonderful faculty of the human mind as often as possible. It will help you easily imagine the "ideal solution". Without the ability to think figuratively, this is difficult, if not impossible.

Thinking with analogies

Everyone can recall a case when complex phenomena from one field were explained quite simply by transferring them to another field. Many electrical engineering teachers explain some electrical phenomena with examples from hydraulics using the analogies "conductor - pipe", "electric current - liquid", "condenser - tank", etc. Edison himself did not know how to think abstractly. To visualize the processes in his invention of a two-way telegraph, he built a complex hydraulic model - a tangle of pipes the size of an entire room. Of course, it is hardly necessary to reach such an extreme. Often the path to the birth of the new idea is quite simple analogy.

We distinguish direct, personal, symbolic and fantastic analogy:

Direct analogy - the considered object from one field of technology is compared with a similar object from another field of technology or living nature. Examples: petrol lamp - jet engine, airplane - bird, helicopter - dragonfly, parachute - umbrella, etc.

Personal analogy - the inventor puts himself mentally in the place of his researched object. For example, if we want to invent a walking all-terrain vehicle, we mentally put ourselves in its place and start thinking about how we should move our limbs.

Symbolic analogy - objects are compared by using poetic images and metaphors. A wonderful illustration of this is the poems of Vaptsarov (Bulgarian poet), in which he sings of poetic-technical progress.

Fantastic analogy - we imagine that some fantastic creatures or objects help us to solve the task (magic wand, flying carpet, invisibility hat, etc.). Example - Maxwell's demon (a fictional creature that stands in one container of gas and opens the door to the neighboring container only for very fast moving molecules).

Use of chance

Some people are able to focus completely on solving a problem. It turns out that this otherwise useful quality hinders the emergence of new ideas. It eliminates all accidental influences that would divert thought from its traditional path. Iron logic only helps us move faster in the chosen direction, but will it lead us to the desired goal?

Originality is the product of chance. One could scarcely find a better example of the purpose than the kaleidoscope. It is enough to turn this toy in your hands and the multi-colored glasses, reflected repeatedly in the mirrors, form a unique picture. There have even been reports of using kaleidoscopes with cameras attached to them as desensitizers in the textile industry. These mechanical "artists" turned out to be much more original than humans.

Many great discoveries and inventions are the result of chance. It is hardly necessary to remind how X-rays or, for example, penicillin were discovered. And each of us, if we delve carefully into our past, will discover how many important events in our lives have become accidental. Why, then, are we ashamed to admit the role of chance, but worship logic?

Now let's look at methods that accelerate the occurrence of random phenomena.

It is possible to deliberately immerse ourselves in an environment with many arousing factors - we casually walk through an exhibition, a fair, a large department store, where a variety of objects are displayed with no apparent connection to our problem. However, any of these very objects can trigger the emergence of a new and original idea.

The opposite is also useful - we take an object and try to connect it to our problem. The subject must be chosen completely at random. There is absolutely no benefit in choosing a subject that seems to us in advance that it can solve the problem. For example, we want to create a device that drives birds away from a given place (in short - a scarecrow). We have chosen a tape recorder as the trigger object, which at first sight has nothing to do with the problem. However, if we think carefully, perhaps we will find an interesting connection between the two subjects - we record the screams of frightened birds on the tape recorder and then play them in the appropriate place.

Another method that favors the occurrence of random phenomena is the parallel solution of several inventive tasks. Instead of thinking about just one problem, you have several problems in your head at the same time and allow your thoughts to intertwine and jump from one problem to another. It turns out that a point of view common in one field is original in another.

When solving a problem, do not forget to take breaks periodically. During this time, you may be considering another problem that has nothing to do with the first one. At the same time, use the natural momentum of thinking - the ideas born when solving the first problem, apply immediately to solve the second.

It's really hard to use randomness to get new ideas. You will constantly be haunted by the thought that you are wasting your time (after all, chance cannot guarantee you success in advance). Rest assured that if you are patient enough, the new idea will come to you at some point. Over time, this confidence will grow more and more, and with it, you will be able to think more and more easily without conscious thought control. And that will increase your chances of success.

See also

The Secret of Invention:

Try to invent! (the reader is motivated to become an inventor)
Where to Start (setting the problem and waiting for the solution)
In the Realm of Chance (stimulating the emergence of new ideas through the use of chance)
The Inventor's Tools (examining the set of tools used by the inventor when solving inventive problems)
Expanding the Toolbox (considered more "tools" used by inventors in solving creative tasks)
Crystallization of the Idea (examined the moment immediately after the emergence of the new idea)

Web resources

In the Realm of Chance (the original source - stimulating the emergence of new ideas through the use of chance)