The recent 2 weeks is a real walk in to our own heads. Week 4 was relatively self-reflecting; then week 5 took us into thinking design process/ creative methods, and moved on to some science of how the brain is wired.
It’s interesting to see the Bauhaus’ first attempts in identifying the thinking process and how it was first attempted in hopes of making it a systematic step by step, and I reckon it was probably an effort to industrialize creativity itself; Would probably be an app by now that could just give us straight solutions and answers to a design problem if a fixed formula was ever identified. The irreplaceable, fun part to design is that of the human touch, considerations of feelings and aesthetics which cannot be programmed, an abstract creation with no weight or property yet can be so valuable now a days in this materialistic driven world. An idea.
Having never succeeded in identifying a solid formula to creativity, the modern model is more time based and leaning towards project management, to me it looks more like: WHEN to identify the problem, WHEN to attempt a conclusion and test ideas. Then the Six Thinking Hats was also sort of more management and time based also, this time it’s about WHEN everybody in a meeting is to think within the same context, WHEN to change hats; but then there is the yellow hat allowing a brainstorm session which is more creative based. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with identifying timing and activities, but then there doesn’t seem to be a direct formula to assure the generation of creative solutions, and I guess the “best chance” to gain good ideas is to time everything right, manage everything right, (and from previous weeks) to set a studio right. Personally I think that mind maps, taking long walks, fiddle with a different material, work the best for me regarding idea generation and problem solving. Â
I really enjoyed the RSAs’ Divided Brain, Iain McGilchrist’s point of views and speech is really captivating and the animation done on top is quite the spectacle!
It is awkward to find the abandonment of the right brain; I originally thought that it would be a smart world if the left doctrine took over. For me it was a lil’ confusing at first, but then when they concluded with Einstein’ “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the faithful mind is a faithful servant; our society has honoured the servant and forgotten the gift.”.
Then it all came falling down on me:
Cops going “F your hunch, we need evidence!”
“Alice stop wandering off and pay attention to your reading!”
Our lives have been programmed to fit in to the norm, the norm which has been taken over by tech. and the head that mass broadcasts’ their “good” word to easier manage us; Our senses have changed (the gift) and been dumbed down, and our logic (the servant) has gone hyper-drive, pushing us along to keep up with the herd, distraction after distraction fogging our intuitive. What good are the mass amounts of schooling, movies and books when we don’t get the chance to live them?
There is a Chinese saying: “10 000 books is nothing compared to walking 10 000 miles.”, but none of us really have the time to travel, and for those who do the shopping list and the schedule based exactly on some show on Travel Network is busy being fulfilled. Then once our trip is over we are too busy thinking how we can climb the ladder sitting in our lil’ cubicals, and after the long ride home we are too tired to show how much we care for our loved ones.
I think that the point made about both sides of the brain trying to inherit one another is also very interesting; and probably allowing the constant tug of waring to happen is the best approach of going at creativity. Design is no ordinary job which might only require more one sided kind of mentality, and what is giving us designers all the headaches and spinning problems around is our ability to allow both left and right to slug it out.
There is a spiritual belief that humans are capable of a 6th sense; and in scientific belief Einstein has claimed that 90% of our brain is locked away. Set priorities, cut out unnecessary distractions, try something completely new often, cut down on sweets (apparently France is very successful in eliminating ADHD by cutting sugars from children’s diets), get enough sleep and devote to the work that you love I think is the best way to assure good creative flow.
ANDY was here
ANDY was here 🤓 