Watch the following video based on Steven Johnson's book, Where Good Ideas Come From:
Using Steven Johnson's introduction and this video as support for your thoughts and musings (this means using direct quotes), respond to the following prompt in 250-350words. If you are not the first person be sure to engage with the other responses.
***Similar to Johnson use a detailed example to show where you believe your good ideas originate from.
Steven Johnson poses an interesting point about how good ideas are formed. He first says that good ideas are a “combination of smaller hunches” which I completely agree with him on. Many ideas need to sit and ferment to be truly amazing, they need to be nurtured into maturity by the thinker constantly learning and feeding the idea new ideas. He also brings up the good point about being around people who also have good ideas because then you can pick up on their ideas and form an even better idea. He goes back to the “Persian salons of modernism” and “coffee houses in the age of enlightenment” to prove his point, because the great thinkers of their time where constantly surrounded by intellectual people who helped them compose and mature there ideas in till they had become comlete. He then brings up the very prevalent point of if the internet is ruining our thoughts by overloading us with too much information. I do think that the internet is overloading people with information and I do think we need to go back to a slower, deeper learning style, but I also agree that internet has been helpful in the forming some of the great ideas of our time. With the internet we can access all types of information and really learning anything we want to learn. So even if the internet is having a detrimental effect on some people we can easily argue that the amazing ideas that the internet has helped to form outweigh any negative effects caused by it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about good ideas and where they come from, I can agree with Steven Johnson when he states, "Breakthrough ideas almost never come at a moment of great insight or a sudden stroke of inspiration, most good ideas take a long time to evolve." At the same time, I can agree with Luc in his similar statement that, "Many ideas need to be nurtured into maturity by the thinker constantly learning and feeding the idea new ideas." Good ideas need time so they can really improve and mature. A good idea rarely just spawns randomly out of someones head. In order for an idea to be titled "good", it needs to be worked on throughout the years. Over the years, people will form new ideas that can build on their older ideas, while at the same time, removing meaningless parts of that older idea because of the new and improved ideas. Almost every good idea that is formed will require some kind of trial and error process. Ideas also need to be collaborated on in order to reach their full potential and be considered good. If multiple people can contribute to a single idea, that idea will mature much faster than if it were only in a single person's head. Without sharing, a potentially good idea could lie dormant within someones head without improvement, in which it would never get the chance to become a truly good idea.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of good ideas, I often think of brainstorming and coming up with small detailed ideas that usually end up creating one giant or complete idea. Steven Johnson talks about a pattern called the slow hunch, which is a break through of how small idea take time to develop and mature. I totally agree because when you come up with an idea there are many trails and errors that you have to process before you know your idea is ready to be introduced into the real world. In addition he also talks about how many great ideas come from comparing ideas of others to yours. When coming up with the perfect idea you have to be able to get the opinion of other people to be able to make your idea the best it can possibly be. For example when Steven talks about how the world wide web idea took almost nine years to create and how his first few ideas where thrown away after a couple of trails and error. Also I agree with Luc when he says that the internet has helped us come up with some good ideas in our time. When you think about internet, you think about this large source of information that can easily be used to come up with some great ideas. Now steven johnson does mention something about how the internet in some ways are slowing us down but I do not believe that because with the amount of information that the internet has to offer to us, Students should be able to come up with some great ideas that can later become better ideas through trail and error.
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about where good ideas come from, I also agree with Sammy when she says that good ideas are a result of brainstorming. This period of brainstorming may be compared to the “slow hunch” that Steven Johnson refers to as the process of ideas that develop overtime and become one absolutely great idea. Ideas pop into your head and sometimes they fully develop into good ideas when several people that have ideas of their own surround you. Then everyone begins to pick off each other’s ideas and begins to brainstorm once again with their idea and others ideas, coming up with one good idea. Ideas of many people may stay dormant if they are never connected with other people’s great ideas. Together they connect to make a stronger one. Johnson mentions that the Internet is ruining our slow, deep thought process by “overwhelming” our brains with an always connected, multitasking lifestyle, that may lead to us having less sophisticated thoughts. Yet the Internet is one way that makes brainstorming for that perfect idea easier. You have access to search the web for other people’s ideas, opinions and thoughts that can affect your idea. The Internet gives us the ability to reach out and exchange ideas with other people and to borrow other people’s “hunches” and combine them with our own, resulting in a newer, and better idea. Ideas don’t just pop up out of nowhere, they take time to arise. They are “dormant” in the back of your mind until or unless they are mixed with other ideas and then greater and greater ideas keep coming to mind until the perfect one comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteAs I begin to think about where good ideas come from, Steven Johnson answers my question completely. He says that “ideas want to reinvent themselves by crossing conceptual borders.” This is saying that one idea is connected with a different idea to form an even better one. As Johnson and Luc F say, “Ideas are a combination of smaller hunches.” I can agree with them both when reflecting on my own ideas because of the several different thought processes and resources that I use and which come together in my mind to form a good idea. Darwin shows this by piecing all his tools together: “A ship, an archipelago, a notebook, a library, a coral reef” to form his own ideas. Small things brought together to form a large/great idea is also demonstrated in Steven Johnson’s piece in the section where the 10/10 rule is being discussed. Technologies advancement is being shown through telling us how it developed from colored TV, then progressed to having VCR, which led to DVD and so on. For each of these new ideas for technology advancements, the ideas all connected with each other to come up with something better, which is what Johnson says where good ideas come from. The idea of having a VCR with the different ideas of colored TV and more convenience than the VCR is what has been adopted to generate the process of the great idea of inventing a DVD. This also shows how my good ideas are formed. I take small ideas into consideration and bring them all together to make an even better one.
ReplyDeleteSteven Johnson said that good ideas come from many different hunches that people have and the process of those ideas being shared and meshed is where good ideas come from. I completely agree with this statement because I have experienced this first hand. Us college students can relate because when were doing a group project we tend to come up with some ideas on our own but then when we get together with our groups to share our ideas, we can generate better ideas with all of our information put together. Also, Brandon you bring up a good point when Johnson says that good ideas don’t appear in an instant and that they are generated over time because that is very true. People don’t just invent things in the matter of seconds or come up with a cure for disease in fifteen minutes. It takes time to process the whole idea and making it more logical. Adding on, Luke you talked about the Persian salons of modernism and the coffee houses in the age of enlightenment and this just elaborates on the fact that when people are surrounded by others that have ideas and they mingle, it’s a process of sharing ideas to make it become one great idea. Although many people do form great ideas, I still believe that the Internet is influencing our thought process to slow down and become to have a smaller attention span over time.
ReplyDeleteI believe everyone has the ability to be creative, whether it’s composing the lyrics to a love song to combining workouts at the gym. Creativity allows us to form original thoughts that stem from the immaterial mind. From our creativity, we create good ideas. I agree with Steven Johnson’s position on the environment creating much inspiration for our creative minds. However, our thoughts may take years to fully develop just as he states, break through ideas almost never come in a moment of great insight.” Consistent in both Luc and Sammy’s entries, I must agree that creativity requires much time and contribution to fully develop. Sometimes our ideas feed on new ideas created. In Johnson “Where Good Ideas Come From,” he depicts the narrative of Darwin’s journey in the Indian Ocean and how it gave him much inspiration for his works to come. Many times we involve ourselves in some experience that we believe will give us the desired motive we are searching for. However, that is usually not the case. Indeed will it provide us with the thoughts we long for, but more often than not, these experiences will be instrumental in developing ideas at a much later time. Johnson states in his novel, “In time the reason would come to him.” Sometimes we even place ourselves in events without even having a reason why. Its not until the idea has “matured” like Luc stated that we can utilize this cognition to its full potential. I also believe we have to let ourselves be the creative beings that we are. Inside all of us resides an imaginative voice that verbalizes the thoughts we produce, however, its not until this voice is heard that we can proceed to create good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Steven Johnson when he says, "Breakthrough ideas almost never come at a moment of great insight or a sudden stroke of inspiration, most good ideas take a long time to evolve.” It’s true. Ideas don’t start to fill your mind all at once. They take time to be created and eventually branched out or as Steven Johnson referred to it as a slow hunch, into something you can work on and perfect. And when I think of where good ideas come from, strangely, I think of relaxation and not thinking…just letting the idea come to you. Getting the inspiration from somewhere other than by sitting at a desk in your dorm room waiting for hours for the idea to hit you in the face. Johnson also talks about the Persian salons of modernism and the coffee houses in the age of enlightenment, just as Kyra and Luc stated in their blog posts I completely agree with them that these times just help the person with the beginning idea and other people help build on that theory or presenting idea to make it one big great creation or thought, and I completely agree with both of them. With people helping and putting their input in on the idea, the perfected creation may have taken years to accomplish. Just as Brandon said, “Almost every good idea that is formed will require some kind of trial and error process.” And he is right! A lot of ideas and creations these days have to have flaws in them. No inventor or genius is going to come up with a perfect idea that is going to work automatically. These things take time and you can’t rush them. And just as a side note, I really liked the video and Steven Johnsons drawings to make it more enjoyable to watch.
ReplyDeleteI believe good ideas can start from anywhere, and it varies from person to person on where they believe they derive from. To begin, I agree with Jonny I feel that anyone has the potential to be creative, but it is a matter of that person finding what they are good at. It is within finding what you are good at when you can start to form good ideas. For example, Charles Darwin knew a lot about biology. It was though his interest in biology that he acquired a "hunch" as to why there was such a significant amount of life at the reef he was examining. It was after this hunch that he began to analyze the life in the water in comparison to the land right next to it. After he was able to analyze the smaller details of his hunch, he obtained an even bigger and better hunch which eventually led to "the summit of the nineteenth century". In my case, I love different art forms. It is through the observation of art, whether it be drawings, music, or sculptures, that I am able to form ideas as to why the artist depicted their own ideas in this way. I am able to analyze their interpretations and inspirations to come up with my own ideas.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Steven Johnson, good ideas are more than just a whim or a “eureka” moment that someone has on a given day. No, good ideas are formed over time based off of that eureka moment. Johnson mentions that the process of creating a good idea could take up to two or three whole years as appose to the two to three minutes we wish it could take. Johnson also mentions that good ideas can be built up and linked with ideas formed by our peers. Kyra hit the nail on the head when she mentioned that college students do this all the time when working in groups. Two minds are always greater than two which I think is the point that Johnson was trying to get across. I for one agree with this statement because of the fact that it is happening all around us. Although we have a President to run our country, he has to have a Vice President, a Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, and Secretary of Defense to help him out with the many decisions he has to make. If we had one person having to come up with all of those different decisions or “ideas” on how to make our country better and stronger, there is no way that all of those ideas would be good ones. As much as I agree with the statement that good ideas need other good ideas to collide with, I disagree with the thought that good ideas need a long time to develop and grow inside the mind before they can actually be classified as a good idea. Sometimes people can just have a eureka moment and go with it right then and there. For example, a baseball coach may have a hunch that a certain hitter may have a better chance against a certain pitcher in the middle of a game. And although the head coach will consult with his assistant coaches, that idea will be deemed good or bad at that very moment.
ReplyDeleteGood ideas do not always appear of nowhere and rarely thought of when we need them most. Steven Johnson says in his video “Breakthrough ideas never come at a moment of great insight.” He is saying that if you try and sit down to find a great idea that is will never come to you. Ideas take time to mature, which may take many years to weeks. At the moment that it comes to you it may not seem useful at all until that time has passed. I completely agree with what he is saying. Time needs to pass before that hunch as Steven Johnson says can develop into a good idea. There are times that I have tried to solve something during the day depending on what it was. Then sometime that night when I will be trying to fall asleep I think of a solution to that hunch earlier which developed into a good idea. That is a basic example, for usually most of the more important ideas take more time. They also take collaboration between people. I agree when A.alper says that everyone begins to pick off each other’s ideas until they form their own. That is also very true because your great idea may branch off from somebody else’s minor idea in an entire collaboration. This is seen how Kleiber’s law which was a good idea and evolved into its application on the energy flow of cities. Nonetheless, good ideas can evolve through the maturing of hunches through collaboration.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe my better ideas stem from smaller, incomplete thoughts that I’ve had in my mind for a while. Rarely, if ever, will someone’s light bulb go off when a brilliant idea has suddenly sprouted in their head. It’s more common for someone to sit on a small curiosity and let your mind work with it. Luc has the right idea by quoting Steve Johnsons writing. When he quotes going back to coffee houses I think he’s talking about revisiting ideas and really sitting down to think about things. An idea must be brewed in your mind. It needs time to mature; also, there are many factors to take into consideration when developing an idea. Steve Johnson also mentions “He (Darwin) is on the edge of an idea about the forces that built that peak, an idea that will prove to be the first great scientific insight of his career. And he has just begun exploring another hunch, still hazy and unformed, that will eventually lead to the intellectual summit of the nineteenth century.” Now I know that is a long quote, but it reinforces the fact that ideas are to be a trial and error process. A seed was just planted in Darwin’s head that he will often come back to and revisit for a number of years until that idea is prime. Then he can share it, the idea is then ready to be introduced to others. With that idea that you’ve worked so hard on, they will begin the cycle all over again. There is a likely hood that you just implanted a life changing seed into their head.
ReplyDeleteThe way in which Steven Johnson displays his research of the question “Where good ideas come from” in a video with continuous drawings is quite interesting and effective in relaying his message. In 5 years he developed an environmental perspective which asks “what are the spaces that have historically lead to unusual rates of creativity and innovation?” He found patterns, focusing mainly on “slow hunches” which are developed to greater ideas through time with the collusions of others’ thoughts. Johnson believes the driver of scientific innovation and technological innovation has been the historic increase in connectivity. To be able to reach out to other people and combine ideas has been the primary creator of innovation over the last 600 to 700 years according to Johnson’s research. With the internet we have multiplied our ways to communicate drastically which yet again benefits the production of good ideas. Johnson leaves us with the thought that “The chance favors the connected mind,” contemplate that for a while! As Brandon and Kyra agreed with Johnson, I do as well; good ideas do not just appear out of no where, they take time to form. In that timespan mingling with others and asking for their opinions on your ideas leads to the formation of an even greater picture. I believe my own good ideas come from who I am as a person. I could not be more thankful for the fact that I am a positive person. I am a problem solver as well, immediately always thinking of how to make a situation, object, person, you name it, even better. In addition to that, I am a very compassionate person. I constantly find myself thinking of others feelings, needs, and desires. Combining all of these traits leads to ideas that are full of depth, like Johnson said, they take time to form beginning as a hunch and leading to what I would like to think is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the excerpt from Johnson’s book I have been lead to the thought that a good idea can stem from many places. One’s creative mind can develop an idea from a photograph, experiencing a videogame, processing music from a song, the words of a powerful speech etc. I believe a good Idea can be modeled after the standard email. Similar to that of a standard email for a good idea to present itself there must be a topic of some subjective or objective value to make it worth thinking about in the first place. After a proper topic or thought of an idea is established, one can move on to the body of the email or the developmental stage of the “good” idea. Just like in the body of an email the good idea is going to be edited, revised, and subject to changes. Once the body of the email or development stage of the thought is complete, the email/ “good” idea is either sent like an email and submit into action or saved to the drafts among the many other ideas that are laid to rest in the subconscious, but wait and live to see another day. I support the statement Steven Johnson said on page sixteen paragraph two stating, “There are many ways to measure innovation, but perhaps the most elemental yardstick, at least where technology is concerned, revolves around the job that the technology in question lets you do.” I believe this is important and true because I define a “good” idea as a natural tool instinctive in human processing through thought, equipping us with the power to attempt to reason and strategize at our own personal levels. The idea is our body’s natural technology, and the job it does is adding insight into making the best decisions for ourselves and acting in the ways that will benefit us the most. I think Luc’s blog supports my ideas. Luc talks about agreeing with Johnson in that “good” ideas need to mature an ferment this is much like saved to the drafts stage of my email example.
ReplyDeleteTrying to explain where my good ideas come from is one of the most difficult things to do, because, I have absolutely no idea where they come from. It always seems like ideas come to me the best when I’m not doing anything. For example, when I’m in the shower I seem to get the most creative, perfectly planned out ideas. Also, when I’m reminiscing on memories from the past, ideas seem to randomly pop up in my head. Steven Johnson says that “Most important ideas take a long time to evolve, and spend a long time dormant.” I believe this is true because the way I get my innovative ideas seem to be very haphazard and have nothing to do with my previous, bland ideas. I agree with Luc’s idea that the internet is overloading people with information. I believe some ideas get blocked by the convenience of information. I believe originality and great thoughts are always somewhere in our minds, but finding the correct neurons that connect to other neurons, that finally bring out the “idea” is a difficult track. Steven Johnson states, “Good ideas come from the collision between smaller hunches so that they become something bigger than themselves.” I was thinking the same thing when I sat down to think about where my good ideas came from. I realized that I would come up with different thoughts, the next one better than the next. Finally, maybe hours, days, and maybe even weeks later, I randomly come up with the greatest idea.
ReplyDeleteI personally agree with Steven Johnson when he says that smaller hunches combine and ferment to form great ideas, to a point. To clarify, I believe that great ideas do start with small hunches, I also believe they combine to form these great ideas. However, I believe that the actual ideas are created through individual hunches that are later shared and modified through conversations. As displayed by the video, not only do we share, use, change, and develop ideas from others, but we also use others to formulate and exchange ideas through conversation with, and this is the genuine creation of great ideas as well. This conclusion also goes back to what Johnson said about being around people sparks better ideas, in the sense that conversation is the key to great ideas. We are all product of our own experiences, so I believe most ideas will be related to each individuals experiences as well.
ReplyDeleteAs Jonny makes some good points about creative ideas, I have to add the following to ensure that my point keeps validity. While prior is the case for most great ideas, I believe certain ideas can come from experience. In this scenario, ideas do ferment, as Steven says, but their original spark comes from experiencing related experiences. In this I mean that writing a sad song that relates to yourself is sparked from an experience in the past, however after having time to ferment and for yourself to mature as a whole, it has developed into what could be a great song.