I

Introduction - Serial and Parallel Thinking

IQ Test Pass out and take

Look how Dumb Humans are:

(introduction to Serial/Parallel analogy)

The IQ test - is the pinnacle of intelligence.

Yet that is all we can do.

#1 - big deal, so you could tell the difference between. . .

IQ ONLY WORKS WHEN WE STRING IT TOGETHER

This can be done by working in a team

It can be done by writing it down

This is a strong purpose of culture

IT ALSO WORKS WHEN BE 'BUILD' or 'GROK' a NEW CONCEPT

Then we just 'know it'

THIS MEANS WE CAN NOW USE OUR PARALLEL PROCESSOR

Things just 'feel' right or wrong

WE HAD BETTER USE SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST OUR SERIAL PROCESSOR

Look at a car - it is an assembly of small, little smart ideas.

Wishcraft Exercise I "Who do you think you are?" (From: "Wishcraft" by Barbara Sher, Ballantine 1979)

Slides of Bolas Work.

Conclude with "I LOVE DESIGN"

It did not matter the subject matter, I just LOVE playing and creating and building and well, DESIGNING

So, this talk will follow:

(how do we come to know who are we as individuals?)

Love

(how do we become and stay passionately motivated?)

Design

(how can we better practice the art and science of Design?)

WHAT YOU ARE

FIND WHAT YOU ARE

Willing to try many things and fail many times

Requires conscious effort to remain sensitive and notice

Especially given that there are realities to life as well

Wishcraft - Childhood Discussion and then Exercise two

FOLLOW WHAT YOU ARE

1) Because this is what you are meant to do - only your brain works this way

2) Shoulds lead to shoulds while wants lead to wants which leads to flow

3) Einstein was not that smart IQ wise (well he was I think but) - he just had a different way of looking at things - that is the parallel side - you gotta stick to it -that is what makes you truly unique.

NURTURE WHAT YOU ARE

Go to school; Do things that make you look (& be) dumb; Go back in status by 20 years

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT YOU ARE

Scary - one of the reasons we do not do it

"I am the best person in the world to be designing this", Uh Oh.

SIDE BARS:

THE RULE OF 7s (From Waldorff Education)

Major life changes seem to take place at the 'sevens' - go ahead and make the change.

7 Childhood - Adolescence

14 Teen

21 Graduated College

28 Marriage or Career choice

35 Major even

42 Career change, midlife crisis.

RICH'S QUADRANTS (From Rich Gold's "The Plenitude")

Artist Scientist

Designer Engineer

Love

Passion

Flow

Self

Fun

Play

CONCEPTS OF 'FLOW' and 'PLAY' and ENERGY

Challenge vs. Skill - boring versus stressed

DEKOVEN PAGES (From Bernie Dekoven at WWW.DEEPFUN.COM)

YOU NEED TO DO WHAT YOU ARE NATURALLY WIRED TO DO

This means you should do what you find fun,

This means you should do what you WANT to do

This means you should not do a should, you should do a want.

From Synectics:

In Synectics theory, play with apparent irrelevancies is used extensively to generate energy for problem-solving and to evoke new viewpoints with respect to problems. Play generates energy because it is a pleasure in itself, an intrinsic end.

Play

While it may be true that final sanction for artist, scientist, inventor is public acceptance of the end-product, overemphasis on the success goal masks the gratification in the creative process itself. Synectic theory implies that not all play is creative, but that all creativity contains play.

"Play" in the creative process means the activity of floating and considering associations apparently irrelevant to the problem at hand. Play in this sense involves the constructive use of illusion, conscious self-deceit, daydreams, and of associations in general which seem to imply no immediate benefit.

Design

DSP	Filter Circuits	Vibration/Damping/Control
DESIGN STYLE	HACKING/BOTTOMUP	TOPDOWN
AESTHETIC	CONSIDERATIONS	BEAUTY
CONCEPTUAL	BLOCK	DESIGN
Design Code	Design Circuit	Design Part
Write Code	Solder PC Board	Machine Part

Domain independent - Design at a certain level, cares not about the discipline

Observations on the brain - we have no memory, what is this good for:

Brainstorming example

ADD ideations an synecting

Need tools to provide persistance

Writing is a tool

Mind mapping is a tool

When all is up in short term, do not stop, run until you drop

Recognize these states and don't let them go

Techniques to help synect

HOW IDEAS REALLY TAKE SHAPE - LEVELS OF DESIGN

LOOK! THERE IS ROOM FOR EVERYONE TO PLAY

From engineer to concept gal to build it guy - they all fit because it is at all levels

Design cuts across these levels, horizontally, not vertically

Synectics Lecture and Theory:

Synectics, from the Greek means the joining together of different and apparently irrelevant elements.

The aim of Synectics research (since 1944) has been to uncover the psychological mechanisms basic to creative activity. They used observational methods.

This summary is from "Synectics" by William J.J. Gordon, Harper 1961

did it by watching and recording people.

Spring/Altimeter Example (page 16):

1a) Detachment

1b) Involvement

2) Deferment

3) Speculation

4) Autonomy of Object

Basic Synectic Process:

1) Make the Strange Familiar

Understand the problem - analytical phase. Understand the problem until you are at home with it.

2) Make the Familiar Strange

Distort, invert or transpose the everyday ways of looking and responding.

A South Sea Islander's pigeon-English description of a three-masted, screw steamer with two funnels: "thlee-pieces bamboo, two-pieces puff-puff, walk-along inside, no-can-see"

Techniques to Make the Familiar Strange

a) Personal Analogy - see yourself as the spring

b) Direct Analogy - use animals or other devices

c) Symbolic Analogy - use constructs or symbols

d) Fantasy Analogy - invent something that could be used as an analogy

Intuition, Deferment, Empathy, Play, Use of Irrelevance, Involvement; Detachment - these are abstract and thus difficult to teach. The four mechanisms outlined above can lead a person toward these key, abstract, psychological states.

Play and Irrelevance:

Play

Irrelevance

1) Irrelevant Perception, Ideas, and Generalities - sustain a dynamic balance between distraction and learning. Page 133 - Ant Distraction Example

2) Hedonic Response: An Irrelevance Filter - if it begins to feel good, keep going.

Synectics theory holds that there is an excitement and feeling of pleasure accompanying the selection of and signaling a valid intuition, and that people can be taught to watch for the feeling of excitement within them. It is termed a "Hedonic Response"

3) Autonomy of Object - when the solution begins to have a life of its own

4) Accident - effectively irrelevance in motion

A Social Application - Choosing People to Work With:

1) Metaphoric Capacity

2) Attitude of Assistance

3) Kinesthetic Coordination

4) Risk (constructive vs. destructive)

5) Emotional Maturity (integration of childishness into constructive acts)

6) The Capacity to Generalize

7) Commitment

8) Non-status Oriented

9) Complementary Aspect (does the person fit within the existing group)

(? Social Software's role in all this)