Great Minds
Producing ideas
Our thoughts are just random stones thrown into a river. It is fun to skip stones across the surface, or even lob bigger rocks off into deeper water, but when you have finished you just turn your back and walk away. Nothing has changed. On the other hand, an idea happens when we take those stones and arrange them so that they come together as a meaningful whole - a bridge. After your work, you have created something. There is a fundamental difference between thinking and developing a full blown idea. When was the last time you consciously came up with a bridge? When was the last time you developed a fully blown idea of any significance?
To produce an idea - a truly personal idea - is one of the most human things that we can do, but one of the rarest. Too often our minds are cluttered with consuming the ideas that we encounter. Ideas that are not ours, and not anyone in particulars. In fact most of our intellectual horsepower is wasted in turning over and trying to digest concepts that are not real ideas at all. Most of these things are little more than half considered opinions or guesses. As a race, we spend very little time developing any significant life changing, earth shattering ideas. And that is where mundane living starts.
We treat our brains like they were very handy, but limited, filing cabinets. We put information in there and when we want it again, we just reach in and retrieve it. Our highest aim is to be able to store information in a way that it comes out exactly as we put it in, minutes, hours or years later. How amazing is it that we can study hard and memorize an enormous amount of information and then successfully regurgitate it exactly as needed in an examination? That makes us almost equal to the pen and paper that we write on.
Our brains, are worth more than that. Memorization is for computers, ideas can only be generated by humans. Yet despite having about 6.6 billion human brains working in this world, there are surprisingly few genuine ideas being developed. I am as much to blame as anyone in this. I love consuming ideas. I read and listen and watch anything to try and suck up as many ideas as I can. I justify this by telling myself that it is all input which is necessary when I do formulate my own ideas. But too often consumption crowds out production.
You and I need to consciously switch off the flow of inputs once in a while and start to think for ourselves. We need to take the time to deliberately think, process and develop our own ideas. Otherwise we will always be stuck with the same old problems, the same old logic and the same old disappointments that humans have always suffered from.
We all have the capacity to develop ideas, but too few of us use that capacity.
6.6 billion brains, and who is producing the ideas? Will it be you?
Discussion
10 comments for “Producing ideas”
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Though I’m not the biggest fan of the whole Law of Attraction deal, I concede that it suggests some very effective techniques. One is not to see the world as it is, in its physical reality, but as you want it to be, i.e.: not in the 3-D present. I looked around and saw everyone including me caught up in clothes, weather, what someone else said that day, the noisy children, …, and it struck me : who cares? That’s all temporary. It’s momentary. And it’s done. In fact, it was easy to shift my head to a new track, to see a new movie in front of my eyes, of what I wanted it to be. And then, things started happening. And I saw clearly how to make them happen.
So, you’ve pointed out a really profound thing here.
Hi Christine
“That’s all temporary. It’s momentary. And it’s done.” I wish I had written that. I think that sums up how I am feeling about this exploration of production as opposed to consumption.
I’d love to hear more about your experiences after your change of focus. You’ve lifted your head above the fog of mundane survival. Now what?
Thanks
Tom
Hi, Tom,
Your article made me think a lot, so much so that I wrote about your post - I’ll send you the link once it’s published.
Your final question is fascinating. Now what indeed? I don’t drag myself through the days anymore. I love each moment. And I feel my answers turning towards me like all the satellite dishes on James Bond movies, when the big missile is being aimed at its target. It’s very cool. I’m not fully certain where it’s headed but I figure I may as well dream big.
Tom,
What a powerful post! You’re exploding my mind in all sorts of directions! I have to reread your post and chew on it some more, but this has the potential to change my life in very significant ways.
Thanks Tom.
Hi Mary
Be careful with that exploding mind. Maybe you had better put a hat on first. Let me know how you go.
I understand what you mean though. There is a serious difference between thinking and actually finishing off a complete idea. Anyone with patience can form a fully fledged idea, but it takes time, persistence and brutal self honesty.
Thanks
Tom
Tom,
Thanks, my hat is securely on, I would hate to make a mess with my exploding brain :).
What really makes me excited about this idea of producing ideas instead of consuming them is that it speaks to something that has been nagging me for a while now. We have such a barrage of information coming at us from all directions, the internet, the media, etc. We seem to have the lost the capacity for original thought, and all we seem to do is mimic the latest or the oddest, depending on our quirks. The idea of actually stepping outside of that, and allowing our brains to do what they were created for… think!, not just process ideas that others feed us, is a very powerful thing. But for this to even start to happen we need to begin by cultivating silence, producing the kind of internal atmosphere that is devoid of clutter and noise, so that we can think.
I’m still thinking about this, and you may very well see a few more comments from me as I work it out in my brain.
Hi, Tom,
Holidays over. Fiber and water for the next 3 weeks. Writing back on track.
Here is the link for the thoughts that came to me from reading your post.
www.empoweredattraction.com/allow-your-own-ideas/
Just wanted to say I love your blog, and was wondering why you weren’t writing more. Are you okay? and are you going write any more do you think?
Hi Amy
The simple story is yes I am OK (thriving in fact) and yes I will be writing more here soon. Stay tuned over the next few weeks for some news about what is happening here next.
Thanks for your patience
Tom
Hey Tom,
how are things going?I see you have been blogging more over at the noddles blog.So should we be expecting more from here?…
Hope all is well.
-Nelson