Thought is an art and a process. Graham Wallas introduces the four steps to the creative thinking process and how these steps interact and are connected.
The art of thought and interconnectivity of the creative process
1.
2. The Creative Process
• Conscious vs. Unconscious wanders
• Voluntary vs. Involuntary thinking
• Deliberate vs. Serendipitous chains of
ideas
• In 1926, Graham Wallas, defined this
process infour stages:
3. Preparation
• Investigating the problem from “all
directions”
• Fully conscious stage
• Brainstorm, research, planning
• Relevant state of mind
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4. II. Incubation
• Unconscious stage
• “Combinatory play” (Einstein)
– Two or more ideas combined effectively
– Result in creative thinking
• “Negative Fact”
– During incubation, no conscious deliberation of a
problem
• “Positive Fact”
– Series of unconscious, involuntary mental events
5. III. Illumination
• “Sudden Illumination” (Henri Poincaré)
– Flash of insight that cannot be controlled
by conscious self
• Stephen Jay Gould agreed: “trains of
associations”
– Connections between the seemingly
unconnected are the true secret of
genius
6. IV. Verification
• Conscious and deliberate effort
• Testing the validity of the idea
• Reducing the idea to an exact form
7. Creative Process
• Interplay between the stages
• None of the stages exist on their own
• Mechanism of creativity is a complex
machine of innumerable, perpetually
moving and connecting parts
8. • This article was inspired by Maria
Popova, brainmother of Brain Pickings.
• Viva the Knowledge Revolution!
9. Inspired?
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