concepts and imagination, design, proof, provocation

As always I return to the huge importance of concepts for creative thinking. Concepts are the way we access our experience.

A forgetful person is always having problems with a bath that overflows. Wecould design the following concepts: an alarm that sounds after a certain amount of time; an alarm that sounds if the water reaches a certain height; a continuous reminder that the water is running; a way of making the outflow work.

There are, as usual, many more approaches. Another concept might be: a way of filling the bath much more quickly, so the person could actually wait by the bath as it filled. We then search our imagination for a way to do this. A hose pipe from the hand-basin tap might help. A bucket of water from another tap might also help. Some way of making use of time spent in the bathroom waiting for the bath to fill might be yet another concept. We could think of TV or a VCR or a computer, etc.

PROOF
Proof is often no more than lack of imagination in thinking of alternatives. The legal system would probably be unworkable if lawyers became truly creative. They would then be able to create a reasonable doubt from any set of evidence. Where the prosecution suggested that certain evidence was incriminating, the defence would show that there was another possibility. The evidence could be looked at in a different way.

We are usually certain about something when we cannot imagine another possibility. Science advances when new possibilities and new hypotheses supplant the old ones. We generate the hypothesis and then, in our minds, imagine how the hypothesis would fit the existing evidence.

GENERATIVE
I have indicated that imagination is a very important playground in which to play around with ideas. This is the essence of provocation and of thought experiments. Let's see what happens if... I have indicated that imagination has a very important assessment function. We assess feasibility, value, danger and performance under different circumstances. I have indicated that imagination has an exploring function. We can explore for connections and links.

I have suggested that imagination allows us to bring our experience and information to bear on the present situation. But I have not suggested that imagination, by itself, has a generative function. What is generative is the willingness to 'play around'; the willingness to set up provocations; the willingness to challenge and to generate alternatives.

It is true that much of creative thinking takes place in the imagination, but this does not mean that imagination is enough. At school most play takes place in the playground. But the playground is not the play itself. The different games that are played in the playground are the equivalent of the creative techniques that are needed to generate the new ideas.

NOT ENOUGH
Most cooking takes place in cooking-pots but the cooking pots are not the cooking. Heat is necessary for cooking, but heat is not enough by itself. So those who believe that creativity is just a matter of having an 'imagination' and using it are never going to develop a true creative skill. It is only a little better than sitting around and waiting for inspiration on the basis that ideas always happen from time to time.