✨ Where great ideas come from
Or, as Nietzsche put it in an aphorism cited by Oppezzo and Schwartz, “All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.”
I wouldn’t go so far, but the spirit of the sentiment seems true enough. I’ve lately heard a great deal about how writing is a form of thinking. There is a stronger sense in which one could take that claim, but it at least means... See more
I wouldn’t go so far, but the spirit of the sentiment seems true enough. I’ve lately heard a great deal about how writing is a form of thinking. There is a stronger sense in which one could take that claim, but it at least means... See more
The Ambling Mind
Both writing and waking, each in their own way, seem to calibrate the tempo of our minds to the rhythm of thought
Writing increases your rate of revelation. This is true irrespective of the subject because writing is a process of reflection, assertion, and iteration.
Writing clarifies your own ideas. Writing begets new ideas too. Writing lets you explore ideas in depth even if you won’t have time to act on them all. Writing shows people how you think and lets ... See more
Writing clarifies your own ideas. Writing begets new ideas too. Writing lets you explore ideas in depth even if you won’t have time to act on them all. Writing shows people how you think and lets ... See more
Anu • Writer-Builders
Writing as an act of discovering and connecting new ideas
“Strategy salons” or “nerd clubs” can be powerful tools for generating ideas and fostering innovation. Use your nerd club as a safe space to explore half-formed ideas. Limit it to a few engaged individuals who genuinely want to participate. Set ground rules for discussions, like using “yes, and” to build on ideas and leaving negative feedback aside... See more
Lenny Rachitsky • Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconve…
Nerd club as a safe space to explore half-formed ideas
Forget the myth of the 'Eureka!' moment, and allow me to suggest another way: the bucket theory of creativity.
Buckets are little homes for the things you want to explore deeper.
Maybe you’ll write or draw or build about them one day, but that’s not really the point.
All you gotta do is make some buckets.
Because making buckets creates a magnetic fo... See more
Buckets are little homes for the things you want to explore deeper.
Maybe you’ll write or draw or build about them one day, but that’s not really the point.
All you gotta do is make some buckets.
Because making buckets creates a magnetic fo... See more
Alex Dobrenko • The Bucket Theory of Creativity
Read, but don’t just read. Read the best book you can find.
Write, but don’t just write. Write the best idea you can conceive.
Write, but don’t just write. Write the best idea you can conceive.
James Clear • 3-2-1: On the power of going for it, the value of sharing what you know, and how to figure out what you really want
Commitment to the best.
Obsession > Talent
Developing taste is an exercise in vulnerability: it requires you to trust your instincts and preferences, even when they don’t align with current trends or the tastes of your peers. Because while having taste is cool, taste itself reflects a certain type of uncool earnestness – a commitment to one’s own obsessions and quirks.
Elizabeth Goodspeed on the Importance of Taste – And How to Acquire It
Great ideas require taste
When I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It’s like a thematic gravity well, a magnet for what would otherwise be a mess of iron filings. I’ll read books differently and listen differently in conversations. In particular I’ll remember everything better; everything wi... See more
James Somers • More People Should Write
The mind is an auto-sorting machine. It subconsciously organizes better when it knows what you’re looking for
A lot of care went into curating the environment around the children—fascinating guests were invited, libraries were built, machines were brought home and disassembled—but the children were left with a lot of time to freely explore the interests that arose within these milieus.
A qualified guess is that they spent between one and four hours daily in... See more
A qualified guess is that they spent between one and four hours daily in... See more
Childhoods of Exceptional People
Exception people in their childhood had time to roam about and relied heavily on self-directed learning