Monday, May 15, 2006


Connecting The Unconnected

If one particular style of thought stands out for creative geniuses, it is the ability to make juxtapositions that elude mere mortals. Call it a facility to connect the unconnected by forcing relationships that enable them to see things to which others are blind. Leonardo Da Vinci forced a relationship between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make the connection that sound travels in waves.

In 1865 F.A. Kekule intuited the shape of the ringlike benzene molecule by forcing a relationship with a dream of a snake biting its tail.

Samuel Morse was stumped while trying to figure out how to produce a signal strong enough to be recieved coast to coast. One day he saw horses being exchanged at a relay station and forced a connection between relay stations for horses and strong signals. The solution was to give the traveling signal periodic boosts of power.

Nikola Testa forced a connection between the setting sun and a motor that made the AC motor possible by having its magnetic field rotate inside the motor just as the sun (from our perpective) rotates around the earth.

What seemingly wild, unconnected occurance surrounds you everyday, that with some concentration and openness, could be used to create something new? Try and remember when you made a discovery for yourself that arose from this kind of near-serendipity as a seemingly unconnected event spured a new insight for your work.

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