(continued...)
The Logic of Creativity
In 1969 1 wrote a book called The Mechanism of Mind. In
that book I described how the nerve networks in the brain
allow incoming information to organize itself into sequence
or patterns.
What it amounts to is that there are two broad types of
information systems: the passive system and the active system.
Almost all our usual systems (including computers) are of
the passive type. Information is recorded on a surface and
lies there passively until it is used by some brain or central
processor. The surface and the information or data are entirely
passive. In the active system, on the other hand, the information
and the surface are both active. All information changes
the surface which then receives future information differently.
This process eventually gives rise to self-organizing systems.
Rain falling onto a landscape is a very simple example of
such a system. The rain eventually gets organized into streams
and rivers.
Self-organizing systems set up patterns. Such patterns
are usually asymmetric. This means that we normally go along
the main track without even noticing the side track. But,
if-somehow-we get across to the side track, the route becomes
obvious in hindsight. This is the basis of both humor and
creativity.
This asymmetry and hindsight access gives rise to a very
serious problem: every valuable, creative idea will always
be logical in hindsight. If an idea were not logical in
hindsight, then we would never be able to appreciate the
value of the idea. The idea would remain valueless. So we
are only able to appreciate those creative ideas that are
indeed logical in hindsight. Then we go on to say-as we
have been doing for 2,400 years-that if an idea is logical
in hindsight, then better logic should have found it in
the first place. So we try to teach more logic instead of
taking creativity seriously.
It is quite true that in a passive information system,
an idea that is logical in hindsight is also accessible
to logic in foresight. But this is totally untrue in an
active, self-organizing system.
That is why an understanding of the basic behavior of patterning
systems is necessary in order to understand serious creativity.
Cutting across patterns is what I have called lateral thinking.
This has nothing whatever to do with right-left brain thinking.
In any patterning system there is an absolute and logical
need for something like lateral thinking in order to cut
across patterns. But cutting across patterns is not natural
behavior for the brain. The purpose of the brain is to establish
and use routine patterns. That is why creativity is not
a natural process in the brain. In fact, it goes against
the natural process of following patterns.
What I have written here may seem theoretical, but it is
a necessary base for the understanding of creativity (changes
in perception and concepts). From this base we can derive
specific tools which can be used deliberately.
