The one indisputable intellectual talent of the human species is the ability to discern patterns. Mythology follows patterns; seasons, sex, the balance of wrongs and retribution, and so forth. Our knowledge of nature and the universe has been one long exercise in finding patterns that map to a concurrently evolving sense of logic and reason.
So it comes as no surprise that humans have sought out patterns or artificially created constricted areas of randomness, then looked for patterns that might key them into what the cosmos is up to. Technically, we are talking about a type of divination. Consider the randomly selected hexagrams of the I Ching, or a spread of Tarot cards, or rune stone drawn randomly from a bag. Ancient diviners went to considerable lengths to find phenomena to observe that was beyond the reach of human manipulation, such as ancient Mesopotamian hepatoscopy (interpreting the marks on a the liver of a sacrificial animal) that informed the decision-making of everyone from common merchants to kings.
People also learn very efficiently when they can work with small, discrete pieces of information or ideas represented in small, abbreviated form. A scholar’s notecards, flashcards, or a mathematical variable are each examples of how we reduce knowledge or ideas to bite-sized pieces for purposes of learning or manipulating or understanding information.
I believe that these two phenomena can be combined into a powerful intellectual tool. For creativity, this has already been explored by some (not surprisinglly) creative minds. A popular problem-solving tool is the Creative Whack Pack by Roger von Oech. This is a set of cards with a suggestion on each one for breaking out of creative logjams, such as “Find the Second Right Answer” or “Borrow Ideas” or “Map Out Your Plans.”
In 1990 Antero Alli published an article “The Neuro-Tarot, on designing your own cards” in Whole Earth Review. The article was a delightful exploration of how to create a set of Tarot cards reflecting your own fears, hopes, brilliance, biases, foibles, and so forth, by which one could engage in self-realization and seek spiritual autonomy. A self-made tarot deck, like the Creative Whack Pack, is a tool for solving certain kinds of problems.
In 1975, artist and composer Brian Eno and his friend Peter Schmidt created a set of one hundred cards called “Oblique Strategies,” each containing a “worthwhile dilemma” designed to help get past mental logjams and solve problems found in creative situations. Aimed primarily at artists and the like, “Oblique Strategies” is now in its fifth edition.
So art, religion, and ancient politics have benefitted from the use of random quanta of information, randomized in a way that promotes introspection and creativity. Can the same be done for more scholarly pursuits? Finding patterns may use the human mind’s chief talent, but most patterns so discerned do not necessarily map to objective truth. But in the “brainstorm” phase of a project and as an “ossification check” it can prove useful. I have found that writing down ideas or aspects pertaining to an issue or problem on individual 3×5 cards can be a clarifying and informative exercise. Spread them out on the table. See if any other ideas or facts present themselves. If so, make cards for them. Shift cards into categories, if any suggest themselves. Can the cards be put into some kind of sequence? See if you can bring cards into dialogue with each other, pitting one assertion or fact against another. Scholars who use 3×5 cards will lay them out according to the outline they’ve developed for an article or paper, almost like a fortune teller’s Tarot spread. Create a set of cards containing the information “quanta” of a current project and see if it works for you. I suspect that there is a powerful intellectual tool here, awaiting only some careful experimentation and refinement.
I’m not usually willing to go through the hassle of registering just for one blog, but I’ll make an exception. Thanks for the comment on Gifted and Grown. I remember the Neuro-Tarot article. I wish I still had that issue, as well as a lot of the others. The Whole Earth Review was very formative for me. I like Oblique Strategies but found that for my particularly peculiar brain, it wasn’t too useful. My favorite model for interdisciplinary creativity is The Glass Bead Game, but nobody seems too interested in that path these days.