Emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence is a process whereby larger entities, patterns, and regularities arise through interactions among smaller or simpler entities that themselves do not exhibit such properties. Emergence is central in theories of integrative levels and of complex systems. For instance, the phenomenon life as studied in biology is commonly perceived as an emergent property of interacting molecules as studied in chemistry, whose phenomena reflect interactions among elementary particles, modeled in particle physics, that at such higher mass—via substantial conglomeration—exhibit motion as modeled in gravitational physics. In philosophy, emergence typically refers to emergentism. In philosophy[edit] Main article: Emergentism In philosophy, emergence is often understood to be a claim about the etiology of a system's properties. Definitions[edit] This idea of emergence has been around since at least the time of Aristotle. Strong and weak emergence[edit]
» Publishing Brains on WebBrain The new WebBrain hosting service is now in beta. It lets you easily publish Brains online in just a few steps. You don’t need a Web server, all you need is your Brain. Just use the File > Create BrainZip command and then upload the file at Once published, your Brain can be viewed from just about anywhere. To put your Brain online: Sign up for an account at a BrainZip from PersonalBrain 5Click the “Upload” button and submit your BrainYour Brain will appear on your “My Account” page within a few minutesWhen you want to update your Brain, just upload it again Some of the more advanced features of WebBrain include: Got a blog or web site? To embed a Brain, just open it and click the Share button in the upper right corner. We’ve only just started with the ability to easily share Brains online. Enjoy.
Thinkertoys’ 10 Tips to Become an Idea Person In an age where new ideas quickly becomes commodity, creativity is a must. It is creativity that continuously give us new ideas to keep us ahead in the competition. Regarding this, I recently found an interesting book: Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko. This book contains a lot of actionable ideas on how to become an idea person and get our creative juice flow. In chapter 2 of the book, Michalko gives us 10 tips to become an idea person which I find very useful and thought-provoking. In his words, these 10 tips are about “effective ways to pump your mind for ideas” which are also “exercises that will encourage you to behave like an idea person”. Here are the summarized explanation of the 10 tips: 1. Set yourself an idea quota for a challenge you are working on, such as five new ideas every day for a week. 2. Fighter pilots say, “I’ve gone tone” when their radar locks onto a target. 3. Deliberately program changes into your daily life. 4. Select your readings carefully. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Why Time Slows Down When We’re Afraid, Speeds Up as We Age, and Gets Warped on Vacation by Maria Popova “Time perception matters because it is the experience of time that roots us in our mental reality.” Given my soft spot for famous diaries, it should come as no surprise that I keep one myself. Perhaps the greatest gift of the practice has been the daily habit of reading what I had written on that day a year earlier; not only is it a remarkable tool of introspection and self-awareness, but it also illustrates that our memory “is never a precise duplicate of the original [but] a continuing act of creation” and how flawed our perception of time is — almost everything that occurred a year ago appears as having taken place either significantly further in the past (“a different lifetime,” I’d often marvel at this time-illusion) or significantly more recently (“this feels like just last month!”). Discus chronologicus, a depiction of time by German engraver Christoph Weigel, published in the early 1720s; from Cartographies of Time. So what makes us date events more accurately?
The Most Important Leadership Quality for CEOs? Creativity For CEOs, creativity is now the most important leadership quality for success in business, outweighing even integrity and global thinking, according to a new study by IBM. The study is the largest known sample of one-on-one CEO interviews, with over 1,500 corporate heads and public sector leaders across 60 nations and 33 industries polled on what drives them in managing their companies in today's world. Fast Company's annual list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business just took on a whole new depth. And this year's list will be revealed later this month. Steven Tomasco, a manager at IBM Global Business Services, expressed surprise at this key finding, saying that it is "very interesting that coming off the worst economic conditions they'd ever seen, [CEOs] didn't fall back on management discipline, existing best practices, rigor, or operations. Other key findings showed a large disparity between views of North American CEOs and those from other territories.
An Easy Way to Increase Creativity Creativity is commonly thought of as a personality trait that resides within the individual. We count on creative people to produce the songs, movies, and books we love; to invent the new gadgets that can change our lives; and to discover the new scientific theories and philosophies that can change the way we view the world. Over the past several years, however, social psychologists have discovered that creativity is not only a characteristic of the individual, but may also change depending on the situation and context. One answer is psychological distance. Why does psychological distance increase creativity? In this most recent set of studies, Jia and colleagues examined the effect of spatial distance on creativity. Similar results were obtained in the second study, in which performance on three insight problems was gauged. A prisoner was attempting to escape from a tower. This pair of studies suggests that even minimal cues of psychological distance can make us more creative.
56 Things To Do Instead of Spending Money - And Then We Saved Not spending money? No need to worry there’s lots to do! 56 Things To Do Instead of Spending Money… 1. Read the archives of your favorite blogs We all have our favorite blogs and websites; see what the beginning was like by digging through the archives. 2. Even if you have no kids (and don’t know any) you can throw some sheets over a few chairs and a table, toss in some blankets and pillows and pretend like you’re a kid again. 3. If you’re one of the 104.4 million Pinterest users then this one is for you. 4. Break out of any food rut that might be building and come up with some new meal ideas using only the foods that you already own. 5. That hem that’s come loose, the hole that needs patching, the button that’s hanging on my literally 2 thin threads; nows the time to get that pile of To-Do’s taken care of. 6. Check out all of their movies from the library or watch them all on Netflix. 7. that you’ll actually use! 8. 9. It’s only scary the first time (really!) 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
Rule Breaking and Effectiveness I was having a discussion the other week regarding creativity and how you often need to break the rules to achieve the outcomes you would like. In particular, if it was necessary and what the consequences are. While we didn't come up with any concrete answers (but hey, you rarely do in these discussions), we did stumble on some interesting points and the rest of this article will discuss one of them. Maybe it's something you should consider in your creative endevours too? Breaking the rules is more effective and easier the less people do it. If everyone broke the rules then there would be chaos and this would lead to measures being put in place to stop it. Disclaimer Breaking the rules, or bending the rules, is not something I'm advocating you do willy nilly. You're on your way to becoming a Highly Creative Person.
Developing Your Creative Practice: Tips from Brian Eno Current neuroscience research confirms what creatives intuitively know about being innovative: that it usually happens in the shower. After focusing intently on a project or problem, the brain needs to fully disengage and relax in order for a “Eureka!” moment to arise. It’s often the mundane activities like taking a shower, driving, or taking a walk that lure great ideas to the surface. Composer Steve Reich, for instance, would ride the subway around New York when he was stuck. Science journalist Jonah Lehrer, referencing a landmark neuroscience study on brain activity during innovation, writes: “The relaxation phase is crucial. The ebb and flow of concentrated focus and total disengagement has been a subject of particular interest to the composer, musician, and producer Brian Eno (U2, Talking Heads, Roxy Music). …a practice of some kind … It quite frequently happens that you’re just treading water for quite a long time. 1. Grab from a range of sources without editorializing. 2. 3. 4.
Tackle Any Issue With a List of 100 The List of 100 is a powerful technique you can use to generate ideas, clarify your thoughts, uncover hidden problems or get solutions to any specific questions you’re interested in. The technique is very simple in principle: state your issue or question in the top of a blank sheet of paper and come up with a list of one hundred answers or solutions about it. “100 Ways to Generate Income”, “100 Ways to be More Creative” or “100 Ways to Improve my Relationships” are some examples. “One hundred entries? Isn’t that way too many?” Bear with me: it’s exactly this exaggeration that makes the technique powerful. When starting your list you may believe that there’s no way to get it done. Unlike the related Idea Quota tool — whose primary goal is to acquire the habit of coming up with ideas — the goal of a List of 100 is to take your mind by surprise. Ground Rules There are only two simple principles to keep in mind when making Lists of 100: 1. 2. The Dynamics of Making Lists of 100 1. 2. 3.
Creative Random Word Generator Click a button above to generate a set of random words. Use the random word generator to generate between 1 and 8 random words. Use the idea visualisation features to inspire creative thinking. Join the growing number of people using this awesome tool to : Brainstorm (use the words as stimulus for ideas)Play creativity games similar to those you'll find in our Games SectionCure for writer's blockCreative writing promptsPlay Pictionary and other word based gamesAnything else you can think of ... Give it a try. We're keen to make the Random Word Generator as good as it can possibly be so if you have any ideas or feedback we'd love to hear from you. Have fun ! (The games are based on Edward de Bono's book "How to Have Creative Ideas".) Hints: Click and drag to move a word.