1/ Conventional thinking limits creativity.
👇 Thread 👇
👇 Thread 👇
2/ Here’s the conventional wisdom:
1⃣ Listen to the signal. Ignore the noise.
2⃣ Predictability is good. Beware of uncertainty.
3⃣ Pursue useful knowledge. Avoid useless knowledge.
1⃣ Listen to the signal. Ignore the noise.
2⃣ Predictability is good. Beware of uncertainty.
3⃣ Pursue useful knowledge. Avoid useless knowledge.
3/ Creators, inventors, and revolutionary scientists do the opposite.
1⃣ Listen to the noise.
2⃣ Embrace uncertainty.
3⃣ Chase useless knowledge.
1⃣ Listen to the noise.
2⃣ Embrace uncertainty.
3⃣ Chase useless knowledge.
4/ Randomness is the seed of life.
Evolution feeds on randomness.
Randomness — mutations and sexual recombinations — are the building blocks of novelty.
Then, natural selection sifts for advantageous changes.
Evolution feeds on randomness.
Randomness — mutations and sexual recombinations — are the building blocks of novelty.
Then, natural selection sifts for advantageous changes.
5/ Creativity always comes as a surprise.
Unexpected events contain the most information.
Orderly and predictable systems generate no new information.
Deterministic plans rarely lead to new ideas.
Unexpected events contain the most information.
Orderly and predictable systems generate no new information.
Deterministic plans rarely lead to new ideas.
6/ Creativity can’t be created directly, but it can be cultivated.
It emerges under the right conditions.
Innovation requires freedom.
Knowledge is the source of new wealth.
New knowledge cannot come from a state of equilibrium.
Experiments are the seeds of new knowledge.
It emerges under the right conditions.
Innovation requires freedom.
Knowledge is the source of new wealth.
New knowledge cannot come from a state of equilibrium.
Experiments are the seeds of new knowledge.
7/ Planned economies rarely work.
Progress depends on experimentation and entrepreneurial randomness.
The potential for new knowledge depends on the possibility of failure.
“The seeker of assurance and certainty lives only in the past which alone is sure.” — George Gilder
Progress depends on experimentation and entrepreneurial randomness.
The potential for new knowledge depends on the possibility of failure.
“The seeker of assurance and certainty lives only in the past which alone is sure.” — George Gilder
8/ The brain is designed for survival.
Our thoughts and experiences filter what we see. The brain is constrained by what we have known and experienced.
When we're awake, the brain looks for certainty and tries to reduce uncertainty.
But we need chaos and randomness.
Our thoughts and experiences filter what we see. The brain is constrained by what we have known and experienced.
When we're awake, the brain looks for certainty and tries to reduce uncertainty.
But we need chaos and randomness.
9/ Creativity begins in our subconscious.
The dreaming brain is isolated from our usual sensory constraints.
When we dream, unpredictable noise enters our awareness.
This noise – this randomness – may be the unlikely source of all things creative.
nautil.us/blog/the-noise…
The dreaming brain is isolated from our usual sensory constraints.
When we dream, unpredictable noise enters our awareness.
This noise – this randomness – may be the unlikely source of all things creative.
nautil.us/blog/the-noise…
10/ Learning begins when you push yourself out of equilibrium.
To start over and be a student again forces you into a different frame of mind.
"The heroic struggle of people is to use energy to create pockets of order and information." - @eugenewei
perell.com/podcast/eugene
To start over and be a student again forces you into a different frame of mind.
"The heroic struggle of people is to use energy to create pockets of order and information." - @eugenewei
perell.com/podcast/eugene
11/ Counterintuitively, the ingredients for innovation look like useless knowledge.
Almost every discovery has a long and precarious history.
Weird, eclectic ideas look useless.
Over time, they become useful as the world becomes more complex.
Useless now.
Useful later.
Almost every discovery has a long and precarious history.
Weird, eclectic ideas look useless.
Over time, they become useful as the world becomes more complex.
Useless now.
Useful later.
12/ Pragmatism comes at the expense of curiosity.
We chase pragmatism at the expense of curiosity.
We pursue efficiency at the expense of serendipity.
“The real enemy is the man who tries to mold the human spirit so that it will not dare to spread its wings.”
We chase pragmatism at the expense of curiosity.
We pursue efficiency at the expense of serendipity.
“The real enemy is the man who tries to mold the human spirit so that it will not dare to spread its wings.”
13/ New technology changes our perspective.
Don’t ask: “what will this technology do?”
Ask: “what happens when everybody has one?”
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” — Proust
Don’t ask: “what will this technology do?”
Ask: “what happens when everybody has one?”
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” — Proust
14/ Useless knowledge is pregnant with possibility.
Innovators live inside a reverie of wonder.
We intrinsically want more known knowns.
But opportunity lies behind unknown unknowns.
Serendipity is the process by which we discover unknown unknowns.
Innovators live inside a reverie of wonder.
We intrinsically want more known knowns.
But opportunity lies behind unknown unknowns.
Serendipity is the process by which we discover unknown unknowns.
15/ Progress depends on the casual collision of information.
In college, Steve Jobs took a calligraphy class.
He called it “beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture.”
It paid off 10 years later.
Can only connect the dots looking backward.
In college, Steve Jobs took a calligraphy class.
He called it “beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture.”
It paid off 10 years later.
Can only connect the dots looking backward.
16/ The human soul is infinitely rich.
Curiosity is the guiding principle in science and innovation. But we marginalize it.
We forget that progress depends on messiness, rebellion and insanity.
"A writer is someone who has taught his mind to misbehave.” — Oscar Wilde
Curiosity is the guiding principle in science and innovation. But we marginalize it.
We forget that progress depends on messiness, rebellion and insanity.
"A writer is someone who has taught his mind to misbehave.” — Oscar Wilde
17/ The future is emergent and unknowable.
Embrace noise.
Pursue randomness.
Maximize serendipity.
✌️
Embrace noise.
Pursue randomness.
Maximize serendipity.
✌️
Inspiration:
- @cesifoti
- @fortelabs
- @wolfejosh
- @NautilusMag
- @brainpickings
This excellent 1939 essay: "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge."
brainpickings.org/2012/07/27/the…
- @cesifoti
- @fortelabs
- @wolfejosh
- @NautilusMag
- @brainpickings
This excellent 1939 essay: "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge."
brainpickings.org/2012/07/27/the…
Curiosity is the light that leads towards serendipity.
Highly recommend this interview with @wolfejosh
⭐️ perell.com/podcast/josh ⭐️
Highly recommend this interview with @wolfejosh
⭐️ perell.com/podcast/josh ⭐️
