Use chaos to inspire creative ideas

Feeling stuck isn't a dead end, it's a sign that your current thinking patterns have reached their limits.

Our brains are wired to filter out information, focusing only on what's deemed relevant. This filtering, referred to as latent inhibition by cognitive scientists, helps us navigate daily life efficiently. 

However, when facing complex challenges, this natural drive for efficiency can become a barrier to new ideas and innovation.

Highly creative people find ways to unblock the natural filtering processes of their minds to remain open to the extra information constantly streaming in from their environment.

This openness, called cognitive disinhibition, allows for the integration of unrelated ideas, opening the door to discover novel connections and solutions previously unseen.

How to use chaos to inspire creative ideas

When you're facing a tough challenge and feel stuck, do things to deliberately disrupt your usual thought patterns. Gather diverse ideas, even those that seem irrelevant.

Write the most absurd solution you can think of. Ask, “What would a 6-year-old suggest?” Swap your problem with another industry’s. Flip the constraints. What if they were the goal?

Ask your AI to give you a list of 20 ideas to solve the problem and 20 that would make it worse. Change the location of where you are doing your thinking. Discuss it people from different backgrounds. 

Get outside and take a walk with all the new information you have gathered. Allow your mind to explore without immediate judgement.

Because when you break the pattern, you often discover the break through.

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