Connect the Unconnected

The following quote is from the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (flourished 500 BC), and at the right an interpretation (by me) of this insight.

Connect the Unconnected

I think what Heraclitus means is that making new connections lies at the heart of the creative process.

• Inventors combine components to create new products (Gutenberg joined together the wine press and the coin punch to create moveable type and the printing press).
• Entrepreneurs brings together resources from different arenas to build new businesses (Joseph Pulitzer added large-scale advertising to high speed printing to create the mass circulation newspaper).
• Engineers mix different materials to create new ones (ancient Greek metallurgists alloyed soft copper with even softer tin to produce hard bronze).
• Poets mix unusual images to create provocative metaphors (Luciano de Crescenzo, "We are all angels with just one wing -- we can only fly while embracing one another").
• And, humorists juxtapose unrelated situations for comic effect ("What do you call a clairvoyant midget who just broke out of jail? A small medium at large!").

Today, I'm going to try to connect some previously unconnected ideas! How about you?

Comments

[ann michael]

Roger -

It is so funny to read this. I've been working on a concept about connections and patterns. I haven't quite found the right words yet, but I've found that no matter how disparate the projects I'm working on seem to be - I always wind up connecting them and working on them together.

It's one way to increase my productivity. It also forces me to look at projects form different angles which can spark more creative solutions than if I had just been working on one thing at a time.

I'm afraid I'm not making much sense yet, but I'll figure out how to articulate this idea - it will just take a little more time!