I think this is an interesting thread. Is creativity just a matter of combinatorics over the right data? Or is it something more? Like you are thinking about existing solutions and theorems, and then you trip over a bucket and come up with bucket sort or something
It’s largely a matter of lateral thinking and metacognition
Like tripping over a bucket isn’t going to make you shout eureka! But you’re thinking on the problem, and you remember seeing a seller carefully packing his things up for the day into neatly sorted boxes
(Or sometimes you do trip over a bucket, which reminds you of the seller)
You take the root concept, sorting things using a number of containers, and then you deconstruct and reconstruct pieces of the pattern to reapply aspects of it to your problem
This is a problem for me. I’m a good rememberer but not a great creative thinker.
I think this is an interesting thread. Is creativity just a matter of combinatorics over the right data? Or is it something more? Like you are thinking about existing solutions and theorems, and then you trip over a bucket and come up with bucket sort or something
It’s largely a matter of lateral thinking and metacognition
Like tripping over a bucket isn’t going to make you shout eureka! But you’re thinking on the problem, and you remember seeing a seller carefully packing his things up for the day into neatly sorted boxes
(Or sometimes you do trip over a bucket, which reminds you of the seller)
You take the root concept, sorting things using a number of containers, and then you deconstruct and reconstruct pieces of the pattern to reapply aspects of it to your problem