up:: Idea Emergence (defn) X:: Kate Bush, Stranger Things, & Idea Emergence

Notes on this note

This is a sanitized version of my actual note.

• Some content and links have been removed.

I wanted to make this a note to capture a snapshot of the ever-elusive Idea Emergence.

Without the Odyssey, there is no Ulysses §

The creative process is hard to capture as it’s happening. Here is an attempt to capture a tiny example of how ideas emerge…

I recently re-stumbled across a term called “Intertextuality”. Intertextuality describes how past things are referenced in new things.

It is related to “Idea Emergence”. Idea Emergence describes how that referencing system actually works.

The Wikipedia article for Intertextuality mentioned James Joyce’s novel Ulysses as an example. I read some of the article. Then I did nothing. No notes. No highlights. No comments.

But that’s okay, because seeds were planted that would lead to a simple and unexpected emergence.

The next day, I was writing a newsletter.

I wanted to make point about Idea Emergence. I wanted to say that our past experiences affect our future ideas in unpredictable ways.

I started typing “Without past inspirations…”

That triggered my brain to fire up and I was reminded of a familiar quote:

Without Ithaca, there would be no Odyssey.

And that led to my emergent breakthrough. I merged the following:

• The quote structure (“without BLANK, there would be no BLANK”)
• The quote topic (The Odyssey)
• Another topic I recently encountered (Intertextuality, Joyce, and Ulysses)

into this breakthrough:

Without the Odyssey, there is no Ulysses.

Pretty cool, right! (At least I was excited about it.)

That’s my attempt to capture a tiny example of how Idea Emergence works in powerful ways. And we can create the conditions around us to make these emergent moments happen more reliably.

How?

By linking things together. Something I call “linking your thinking”.

Linking your thinking sets up the conditions for you to consistently experience the wondrous creative power and joy of Idea Emergence.

How can you start?

Stop messing around with shiny distractions. Start making notes and linking notes. Don’t get caught up over-analyzing. Don’t try to create the perfect system. Just make notes and link those notes to other notes.

All the other stuff isn’t going to matter if you don’t do the fundamentals.

Without the fundamentals, there is no flow.

Without the basics, there is no breakthrough.

(You try one!)

Without BLANK, there is no BLANK.

Email me with yours (or tweet me at @nickmilo)!

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• Back Matter
  • dates:: 2022-06-26

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