Comments on: Routine and Creativity http://nowaytomakealiving.net/post/955 is a sociological space about work, generating discussion and exchange on what work, paid or unpaid, is like in today’s world Fri, 18 May 2012 07:33:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Matt Hill http://nowaytomakealiving.net/post/955/comment-page-1#comment-114 Matt Hill Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:06:49 +0000 http://nowaytomakealiving.net/?p=955#comment-114 I've recently started teaching fingerpicking on the guitar and can strongly relate to David Sudnow's ideas. The big challange is fior my student to get past the "thinking" stage. Once a pattern becomes engrained then the real creatvitiy can emerge. I have found it almost impossible to actually teach some of the picking patterns I have developed as that involves me having to deconstruct something that is purely intuition. Very difficult to do. The idea that routine can inspire creativity came up recently in an episode of US sitcom The Big Bang Theory - called the einstein Approximation. In this show the main characters are science "nerds" (actually they are academics) and the main character Sheldon is wrestling with a very difficult physics problem. He stays awake for 3 days straight to no avail. Then he has an idea. In order to solve the problem he must take a menial job. Sheldon believes that if he can engage his brain in a mundane and routine task it will free up the more creative part of his brain to problemsolve his ideas on string theory. Sheldon's reasoning for this is because he says that Albert Einstein came up with the Theory of Relativity while working a menial job at the Swiss Patent Office. We see Sheldon take the most menial job he can think of, working as a waiter and sure enough, after dropping and breaking a tray of dishes, he discovers the answer to his problem. I’ve recently started teaching fingerpicking on the guitar and can strongly relate to David Sudnow’s ideas. The big challange is fior my student to get past the “thinking” stage. Once a pattern becomes engrained then the real creatvitiy can emerge. I have found it almost impossible to actually teach some of the picking patterns I have developed as that involves me having to deconstruct something that is purely intuition. Very difficult to do.

The idea that routine can inspire creativity came up recently in an episode of US sitcom The Big Bang Theory — called the einstein Approximation.

In this show the main characters are science “nerds” (actually they are academics) and the main character Sheldon is wrestling with a very difficult physics problem. He stays awake for 3 days straight to no avail. Then he has an idea. In order to solve the problem he must take a menial job. Sheldon believes that if he can engage his brain in a mundane and routine task it will free up the more creative part of his brain to problemsolve his ideas on string theory.

Sheldon’s reasoning for this is because he says that Albert Einstein came up with the Theory of Relativity while working a menial job at the Swiss Patent Office. We see Sheldon take the most menial job he can think of, working as a waiter and sure enough, after dropping and breaking a tray of dishes, he discovers the answer to his problem.

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