Hello dear readers. In this article, we will share our thoughts on how to create something new, as well as analyze an interesting moment from the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Sometimes we face difficulties in life. We feel completely alone because of these difficulties. Perhaps we are not as sociable as everyone else, or we may have some kind of disease. Something that makes us "different" from the rest.
And nowhere, it seems, is there a place where everything would suit us, where we would be accepted. So you can lose heart, thinking that "life just cheated me with something and that's it."
But what if our difference, which seems like a "punishment" is actually gift? What if it's a problem that just we need to decide(which means it is quite normal that we are like this) and is it possible to help others in this? That is, if we have depression, then we need to set ourselves the goal of finding a way out of depression, if we can’t start relationships with the opposite sex, then we need to learn, and then as they say:
Save yourself and thousands around you will be saved.
A similar situation, in my opinion, is shown in the anime "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", in which the main character (Haruhi) did not like everything, the world seemed boring and monotonous to her. Let's give the dialogue of the main characters:
Haruhi: I thought it would be a little better in high school with clubs, but it's the same as in the compulsory education system - maybe I just got the wrong school... There's a detective investigation club. Kyon (Haruhi's classmate): So how do you like him? Haruhi (disappointed): Ah, funny people. They still haven't investigated a single real case. The members of the circle are ordinary fans of detectives and among them there is not a single detective, they are not even looking for one. Kyon: It's a common thing... Haruhi: I hoped so much for the supernatural study group, but only occult-obsessed psychos gather there - a nightmare, huh? Kyon: What do you say? Haruhi: AAAA! - what a bore! Even if idiots sit in such circles - what to say about the rest? Kyon: Well, there's absolutely nothing to be done - after all, people should be content with what they have and say thank you for having at least this ... As for those who are dissatisfied, it is they who make discoveries - they invent something and contribute in every possible way progress of civilizations. Who loves to travel invents cars and trains. Whoever wants to fly constructs airplanes and spaceships... And all this came to us thanks to a handful of people with a sharp rational mind. In other words, everything that we have we owe to these geniuses, these eternally dissatisfied ...
So, it turns out that Haruhi was interested in something, but she could not find support from others in this, so she remained alone.
But after Kyon’s words, she just decided to open something of her own (her own circle), where she could realize your ideas. Interesting, in my opinion.
It's funny what expression Haruhi had before she created "Team Sos":
rice. one
And what happened after, when she was captured by the idea of creating her own circle:
rice. 2
Starting a profitable business that will surpass the glory of Google or Facebook is the dream of almost every young person of the 21st century. Even successful businessmen strive to launch more and more new projects, but as soon as it comes to creating this most ingenious new business, enthusiasm is shattered by harsh reality. There are a huge number of questions from “How to find an investor who will invest in an idea?” to “How to promote a business?”.
We have collected 15 working ways for you to help.
1. SIMPLIFY THE COMPLEX
For some reason, many manufacturers believe that the more features a product has, the wider the target audience will be. Accordingly, the more money you can earn on it. But often too much functionality scares off a potential buyer. Just imagine, you go to the store to choose an ordinary kitchen knife for cutting bread, and you are persistently offered to purchase a Swiss folding knife for 42 objects.
Sometimes it will be enough to simplify the product, make it more specialized in order to get the thing in demand. Just think about what products you use often can be simplified. What features do you want to remove and which ones you want to keep? And after that, you can safely release a new product that will definitely get its customer.
2. CREATE MORE IDEAS
The more ideas, the more chances that one or more of them will turn out to be really interesting and working. Perhaps one of them will make you a real millionaire and provide the life you have always dreamed of.
"The best method to generate a good idea for a business is to choose the strongest one."
Evgeny Deineko
Create as much as you can! But do not immediately grab onto and try to implement them all. Set aside time to generate ideas. For example, one month. During this time, try to sketch the maximum number of ideas.
And after that - another month to critically analyze these ideas and choose among them one that seems the most promising.
3. BE CREATIVE
Creativity allows consciousness to be liberated and create new unusual and non-standard things. Engaging in music, painting, dancing, or any other creative activity allows you to let go of your imagination. And you will be surprised how many wonderful ideas your mind can create after such creative sessions.
4. READ FORUMS AND SPECIALIZED INTERNET COMMUNITIES
This is the perfect place to find new ideas that people really need. At the same time, forums can be very diverse: from specialized publics for startups to small forums for designers or housewives. In almost any forum you can find a section where you can take ideas.
Just define your target audience for which you want to work - artists, firefighters, students - absolutely anyone. You can do the math for the selection, or you can just pick at random - anything will work here.
Then identify the needs of the audience. On these same forums, topics are often created where members of the forum discuss problems and questions. You just need to thoroughly comb through them - and a heel or two of ideas will appear by themselves.
5. SHARE IDEAS
“If you have an apple and a friend has an apple, you exchanged and you got one apple each. If you have an idea and a friend has an idea, you exchange and you get two ideas each. Exchange ideas - it's beneficial for everyone."
Evgeny Deineko
Of course, if you have created a new interesting idea, then there is always a fear that it will be stolen, that someone will use it for their own enrichment, and you will be left with a nose. But in fact, this happens very rarely. Sharing ideas allows you to hear the other person's opinion of it - which is often very helpful. People who hear about something for the first time often come up with valuable comments that the originator of the idea might not even have been aware of. In turn, this allows you to improve the product and make it more useful.
Share your ideas - it's easy!
6. WALK UNKNOWN ROUTES
If the brain receives a lot of new information, it analyzes it in the usual way. And often, to create something new, you just need a fresh look at familiar things. Walking a new route can give you thoughts that might spark new ideas. Plus, this is a good way to unload the brain from everyday activities and just relax - combine business with pleasure.
7. PUT YOUR IDEAS INTO A NOTEBOOK
The human brain forgets up to 85% of information 24 hours after receiving it. And this means that 85% of the created ideas can remain in yesterday's day, without a chance for implementation.
Once you have an idea, do not shelve it - at least write it down in a special notebook. And the written down idea is not going anywhere, and you can return to it at any convenient moment.
There is a wonderful example in modern business history. All the top companies of Richard Branson were required to carry a notebook for their ideas. Later, 10 of the top 11 became millionaires and multimillionaires. Write down your ideas - it's helpful.
8. LOOK FOR EVERY POSSIBLE WAY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM
You have created a good idea, but the solution is already on the market? Do not despair and switch to something else. Try creating a different solution to the problem.
It is possible that your solution will be simpler, cheaper, clearer - there are many options why it can become more popular and widespread than the existing one.
9. EXPLORE NEW AREAS
Don't stop at just one area. Even if you are successfully running a business, for example, selling children's clothing, what prevents you from mastering a related business? And the combination of two dissimilar areas in general can create a new direction for business in which you will become the first and only representative.
10. STAY UP
Any novelty is an unplowed field for new ideas. Follow the news in science, business, management - in all areas of knowledge that interest you. Indeed, among the new products, a product or service can be hidden that will blow up the market and become super popular.
Whoever owns the information owns the world. And it is this knowledge that will allow you to be one of the first who can occupy a new niche in a new industry.
11. READ BOOKS
There is nothing to say here. Reading has always been one of the best and easiest ways to charge you with new thoughts and ideas. It doesn't matter what book - science fiction, business, detective or drama - while reading, the brain works to the maximum, so ideas are born simply and a lot. It is important to write down these ideas right away because they are quickly forgotten.
12. CURIOSITY IS YOUR WEAPON
Take an interest in the world around! Often, some insignificant information about everyday things can lead to the creation of a powerful idea. Ask questions, be curious, learn new things - and ideas will not keep you waiting.
13. STRIVE FOR THE IDEAL
There are hundreds of objects around each person. And 95% of them can be made better, easier, more convenient. There are very few items that can be called perfect. But every imperfect object can be improved, brought to that very perfection.
Many people would be happy to purchase a familiar product that has become more convenient, simple or aesthetic. You just need to choose one imperfect product - and make it really perfect.
14. WALK OUT OF THE AIR
Fresh air, active pastime are essential components of the active work of the brain. A 15-minute walk allows you to recharge your batteries for the whole day. In addition, the saturation of brain cells with oxygen helps to think faster and more clearly.
This is especially true for people with a sedentary lifestyle. Go outside and you will see how your well-being improves. And to stimulate the brain, take a notebook with you and make a couple of interesting notes.
15. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKE
A successful product solves one or more customer problems. Collect your problems and see how they can be solved in the simplest and most convenient way. Perhaps it will be possible to find a universal way that will help not only you, but also hundreds of other people who are faced with similar difficulties?
If yes, then you are already on your way to creating a great product that will be in demand among buyers.
As you can see, coming up with an idea is easy enough! But this process can be brought to automatism - when the most insignificant thought will create dozens of ideas on which you can really earn money. Train your brain to generate business ideas and master a number of effective techniques for creating a new business and improving an existing one on the course « » . Register now:
The best way to come up with new ideas is to be extremely close to failure. The skill of generating new ideas is very similar to pumping muscles. You only grow when you lift heavier weights.
In real life, when you have a gun to your head, you either figure out what to do or you die.
As soon as you cut yourself, you literally begin to gush with ideas. If you don’t have a single ruble left and you are close to eating Rolton again, you start coming up with new ideas.
If you ruined your life, you just have to come up with some way to build it again.
The only time I had to come up with something urgently was when I had no other choice. Life insurance seemed to tell me "you have to find a way out of the situation, otherwise your children will receive this insurance."
I was at the airport when I realized that the business I had been working on for 4 years was worthless.
Or when I was sitting at home at 3 in the morning and thinking that I was bankrupt and that this house would soon be taken away from me ... My brain was thinking how to commit suicide so that no one would understand that it was suicide.
Or when I got divorced, I was lonely and afraid that I would never be able to earn enough money or meet anyone worthwhile again. Or that my kids will hate me. Or that my friends turn their backs on me.
The main problem is this: you are NOT in a state of panic most of your time. Panic is a unique opportunity. Think for yourself, it was in those moments of your life, when everything already seemed lost, that you found a way to solve the problem, to become stronger.
That is why it is very important NOW to find this ability for critical idea generation and this post will tell you HOW TO DO IT.
Everything you had is lost. This is how you feel when all plans fall apart. All those billions of beautiful thoughts have brought you right here. You can no longer trust the old way of thinking. He came, he saw, he lost.
Now you have to come up with a new way of thinking. A new way to generate ideas. A new way to interact with the outside world.
You are in a crisis. Time to change. Time to become GENERATOR OF IDEAS.
Everyone knows the expression “second wind”, when you have already been running for a very long time and somewhere beyond the point of no return you suddenly find the strength to continue moving again.
400,000 years ago people didn't run for fun. They didn't have sneakers or fancy shorts.
400,000 years ago people were surviving. And you either ran to overtake the prey, or you ran away from the angry lion. You were the prey. And you needed this “second wind”, because otherwise you would have simply died.
The same concept applies to the brain. The moment you are ready to die, a second wind opens up. Ideas, experience, hidden unexplored possibilities of the brain and hormones that geneticists have yet to study.
But the second wind does not open unless you are in good shape. If you're not already used to long-distance races.
That is why it is very important to practice generating ideas now. If this skill atrophies, then at the right time you will not have ideas.
How long does it take for this skill to atrophy? The same time it takes for the muscles in your body to atrophy: two weeks with no new ideas. Atrophied.
If you lie in bed for two weeks and do not move your legs, then you will need to go through rehabilitation in order to walk again.
Many people need thought therapy. Not so they suddenly come up with something cool now (though maybe you can), but so they can come up with new things when they need to: when they're stuck in a closed car, when a fire breaks out in their house when they get fired from their job, when a loved one cheats on them, when money runs out or an important client leaves, a business is taken away, or when they fall ill.
IDEAS ARE THE CURRENCY OF LIFE. Not money. Money exists until you lose it. But good ideas buy experience, even better ideas, better experience, time, save your life. Financial well-being is a side effect of the "second wind" of your idea generator.
Whoa! It's been a great introduction. Depending on where I post this entry, some people will write TL;DR, which means many bukaf, niasilil. These people can stop reading right now. This is fine. I'm not mad at you. I also write shorter posts. I even sometimes draw comics for you.
I write about the internal idea generator quite often as my "daily practice". Every day I have to check off the work that I have done for physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.
And in the process of doing this, I usually have a large number of questions that I try to answer. If you have any questions, please contact us and we will try to answer them together.
Sometimes people ask, “Did you really come up with good ideas just because you could do it before?”
ANSWER: I was hysterical because I had not a penny left in my pocket, I was alone and there was no ray of hope.
Now, 1000 words of the promised cheat sheet for becoming an idea generator.
Below I wrote about what I do and what works in my case. If you have something to add to this list, write in the comments, I will be grateful for any advice.
1) What does it mean - "Idea Generator"
You will be like a superhero. It's almost a guaranteed spot in the Justice League.
In any situation you find yourself in, you will have a thousand ideas. You will know what to answer, no matter what question you are asked. At every meeting, you will go beyond the usual so much that you will find yourself on another planet. If you find yourself on an empty road - you will find a way to get to civilization, if you need to urgently earn money - you can find 50 ways to do it, and so on.
After I began to train my "idea generator", it was as if I discovered the source of magical power. Do not believe? this is normal. Or do you think that I screwed it all up here for the red word. Indeed, it happens that I do not have any new ideas. But that only happens when I stop doing what I'm about to talk about now.
Try it yourself. I'm not trying to sell you this. I don't even want to convince you to try it. I'm just sharing my experience. It's like part of your brain is opening up to a flood of new things, good and bad.
Where do these new things come from? I don't think about it, and I don't care either. But I am using this.
In early 2009, I desperately needed it. I was either busy looking for a girl, trying to start a business, or both. And I also lost all my money in the stock market and the bank took my house (until I personally saved the stock market, I wrote about this in my book).
Every evening, I would take waffles and a bottle of wine and start jotting down ideas. That was until I began to eat right and stopped drinking (5 sober years) and I wrote down 10-20, including the most stupid ideas.
And you know what? It worked.
2) How to start idea generator training?
Take a small notebook. The one usually used by waiters. Walk to the nearest cafe or Starbucks. Maybe read a cool inspirational book for 20 minutes. And then just start jotting down ideas. What ideas? Wait. The key idea is to write down 10 ideas.
3) Why a small notebook?
A small notebook will fit into your pocket and you can quickly take it out to write something down.
It's too small for you to start writing a novel in it, or even a paragraph. As a matter of fact, it has been specially thought up to write down the list. And that's all it takes, a list of ideas.
The waiter's notebook is a great excuse to start a meeting. Someone will sooner or later tell you "double whiskey and burger", and someone might even laugh at such an obvious joke. They'll melt the ice and you can put in your two cents.
Notepad is very cheap. You can buy 20 pieces somewhere for 500r. You don't need a hipster moleskin to come up with a great idea.
Oh yes, I forgot to give another reason why I wrote down my ideas in a small notebook. Once a man who looked like he was going to kill me approached me with a bottle in his hand and asked me for money. I took my notebook and said “can I take your order”, after which this guy left.
4) Why 10 ideas?
If I said, “Write down 10 ideas for a book you can write,” I bet you could easily write 4 or 5. I can write 4 or 5 myself right now. But after 6 things get more complicated. You think: “mmmm…. What other options are there?"
This is exactly the point where your brain starts to work. You may have noticed that muscles do not begin to grow if you do not sweat in the gym. Metabolism doesn't speed up until you work hard. The body will not break down fat and create muscle if you do not work hard in the gym.
The same works for the brain. Somewhere around the 6th idea, your brain starts to tighten up. This means that he begins to create something new. Break through this barrier. Come up with 10 ideas.
5) What if I can't come up with 10 ideas?
Here's a lifesaver for you: if you can't come up with 10 ideas, then come up with 20 ideas.
6) But if I can't come up with 10, how can I come up with 20?
For an obvious reason. You're pushing yourself too hard. Perfectionism is the biggest enemy of your idea generator. Perfectionism occurs when your brain tries to protect you from harm. Because he is afraid that you will come up with something stupid or something that can make you feel pain.
Dedicated to the topic of the birth of ideas: from the history of insights that radically changed human life, to the mechanisms of thinking and ways of generating ideas in the modern world.
Video recording of the lecture
Who am I and why do I have the audacity to talk about how your brains work? I worked as a creative director for fifteen years, and my job was to come up with something every day. At some point, I got tired of it, and I decided to do reflection. Because it seems to me that the main difficulty with thinking is that you cannot think and think about how you think at the same time.
This is physically impossible. This can only be done retroactively. Try to understand how the idea comes to your mind. This is actually a very exciting process. I've spent quite a bit of time figuring out how ideas come into my head. And I came to several fundamental conclusions, for which, in a good way, I am entitled to the Nobel Prize.
The most important conclusion is that we all think the same way. We all have the same digestive system, respiratory system, nervous system, circulatory system, limbic system. There is no reason to believe that separate brains have been selected for each of us.
And I don't know about you, but it really inspires me. The very idea that my brain is no different from Richard Feyman's (American scientist, one of the founders of quantum electrodynamics - site), I love.
I understand that my only difference from Feyman is that I thought and gave up, and Feyman continued to think
Actually, what is thinking from my point of view. There is such an author - Tatyana Chernigovskaya. Maybe you listened to her. I don't like her very much. I don't like it because it carries syncopated nonsense - one from which nothing follows. Her thoughts jump chaotically: she starts talking about God, about the fact that the brain is the most complex device in the universe and other nonsense.
As a result, some kind of water is obtained at the output, and you do not understand what follows from this - it seems that you listened to a lecture, but it seems that you understood absolutely nothing. From my point of view, there is no riddle in human thinking. The brain is incredibly primitive, and the only way we come up with new ideas is by trying out options. Everything. There is nothing but a selection of options.
Simply put, we can only get out of our heads what we put there, regrouping it a little and swapping it. From this follows the following conclusion: as soon as you encounter (absolutely no matter in what area) some new bright idea, your task is to steal this idea and figure out what is good about it.
Once you figure out how this idea works, why it is so cool, consider that it has become a part of you, and another mechanism has been added to your constructor. The fact is that the number of operations of thinking in itself is very small - they can be practically counted on the fingers. And you may ask the question: how were all these things created around us, if the number of variations is so limited?
From my point of view, the best metaphor would be music. There are only seven notes, and the number of melodies is infinite. Or a constructor. You can have a lot of sets, there are also a lot of parts in them, but there are few ways to articulate them.
I will try to elaborate on the topic. But first, a few words about where we are. To simplify a lot, we are in the ass. Complete and absolutely hopeless. But are there people here who are scared? For example, I am afraid of what is happening now.
It's not scary because we're all going to die. The Chinese have a saying: "God forbid you live in an era of change." It comes from the old days of the agricultural cycle, when a peasant up to 12 years old could learn all the basic agricultural operations, all the signs, and then live all his life using this baggage.
Sowing, taking care of the crop, harvesting, digging worms out of the ground and, in fact, processing the crop. Every year it was the same. And then such a thing as a completed higher education was still legitimate.
I think you can forget about this nonsense: education can only be incomplete. Now the absolute norm is to receive a new education every five to seven years. Because with a high degree of probability, all of you will change jobs. I'll try to explain why.
The fact is that we are now in the most unpleasant moment of the fourth industrial revolution. It is unpleasant in that the speed has already been gained and further changes will occur incredibly quickly. I will talk very briefly about the first three revolutions, namely, what they led to.
The first is the industrial revolution: steam, cast iron, Jenny's spinning wheel, and the like. She radically changed the world. Industrialization began, people began to move from the countryside to the city.
Somewhere in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the second industrial revolution swept the world. Steel, electricity, the conveyor - all this has completely changed the world. In the early 20th century, 80% of Americans were farmers and could barely feed themselves.
Today, US agriculture is the largest in the world. Maybe Kiselev said that the Americans do not produce anything but dollars. This is not true. America is the largest (including agricultural) power. The country produces just under 20% of the world's food.
And if at the beginning of the 20th century 80% of the population was engaged in this with a much lower result, today there are less than 3% of farmers, together with hired Mexicans, for harvesting. From this, by the way, it follows that the thesis of the communists about the unity of the peasantry and workers simply does not work. And there are only a few farmers left, and the number of workers is sharply reduced.
In the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, the third industrial revolution began, which is associated with space, nuclear energy, the first computers and the emergence of transnational corporations. This greatly changed the world, including the collapse of the economy of the USSR - our country has become simply uncompetitive.
And, finally, now there is a fourth revolution, which, it seems to me, is stronger than all three previous ones combined. These are the Internet, cellular communications, neural networks, artificial intelligence and GMOs (which, in fact, saves humanity).
Look at the two photos above. The first shows Fifth Avenue in 1900. The only car is marked with a red circle - everything else is a horse. The second photo shows Fifth Avenue 13 years later. A horse is highlighted in a circle, and everything else is cars.
In the States, the most popular profession is a truck driver. These drivers have families of about ten million people. There are also small towns through which the route passes, motels, gas stations, restaurants and brothels operate in them. These industries are driven by drivers. That is, all these people will become unnecessary, because already now there are systems that work perfectly without a driver.
But the problem doesn't just concern drivers - it concerns everyone. The same is happening in the maritime industry. Ships without a crew are already being tested. Before our eyes, the last few "defense lines" that seemed unshakable to us are falling.
It all started with chess. Everyone said that chess is a science combined with an art, in connection with which a machine will never compare with a person in this. After chess, the same was said about the game of Go. The number of options for moves in it is greater than the number of atoms in the Universe, so it was believed that it was impossible to calculate this "tree".
And the most interesting thing is that even now we do not understand how a computer learns to play Go. In fact, he plays millions of games with himself and thereby hones his skills. The next line of defense was poker. It was believed, okay, chess and go are games with complete information. But poker is about psychology, it's about bluffing, it's about putting money under pressure, and so on. But people are not competitive in this.
A few years ago, the average holding time per share was about four years. A person invested money and after four years decided whether or not to sell this share to him, and a bank trader made about 50 transactions per day about buying and selling.
Today, in some markets, the average holding time for shares is four seconds, and one trading robot performs approximately 10,000 buy-sell operations per second. Do you understand that we are simply not needed?
The little ball in the photo above is a Japanese robot that floats on the ISS. It is controlled from Earth, weighs one kilogram and performs about 10% of the work of the entire crew.
Do you know how the war in Afghanistan is going now? In Nevada - on the other side of the globe - employees come into the office, sit down at the monitor and begin to control the drones. They fly over the mountains and plains of Afghanistan, looking for the Mujahideen and destroy them at the command of operators from the Earth.
Of course, situations are possible when the connection is lost. Dushmans also learned how to use microwaves and interfere. In this case, the drone, on command, makes several circles, trying to find a connection, after which it returns to the base.
But while he is flying to the base, he has an automatic target search program running. So this program is much more effective than any gunners. Drones kill people, it distinguishes the “good” from the “bad” and kills conditionally bad ones much more effectively.
Another example: during the Franco-Prussian War at the end of the 19th century, it took 1,300 bullets to kill one enemy soldier. Do you think this figure has decreased over time? During the Vietnam War, it took 200,000 bullets to kill one enemy soldier, today in Afghanistan it takes 300,000 bullets.
There are such concepts as barrage fire, warning fire, area fire and so on. Can you imagine how much it costs to kill one enemy? The sniper is the elite of the elites. To prepare one good sniper, you need to spend several years on hard training and shoot a carload of ammunition. Special units work for one sniper. I don't know if you have seen - there is such a film "Sniper" about an American sniper in Vietnam.
I will briefly tell the story: this sniper died, and his wife was taken to this place, who has nothing to do with military affairs at all. She is blind, works as a programmer. She was armed with a special intellectual rifle, which itself determines the enemy, the direction and strength of the wind, the number of charges in the cartridge, and even tells the person who lies behind the other that it is time to pull the trigger.
This rifle was given to a woman who doesn't have any experience, maybe knows how to pull the trigger. And they held open competitions between her and the US sniper champion. As you can imagine, it was a rout. The American champion hit 58% of the targets, and the blind girl with a rifle hit 100% of the targets.
We are uncompetitive, we are forgetful, we operate with very little information. Our speed isn't good at all.
Another extremely serious resource is “big data”. With the help of big data, human behavior can be predicted with very high accuracy. Recently, they were looking for a serial killer in St. Petersburg and could not find it in any way - he left no traces at all.
Then someone came up with a bright idea: we know several areas in which the murders were committed, and we know the approximate time of the crimes. Let's sift through all the phone numbers: was there anyone who had a phone at all these points at a certain time. Thus, the killer was identified.
Facebook conducted a study last month on 86,000 volunteers. These people filled out a questionnaire of 100 questions. Facebook had the only source of information about a person - these are the likes that he put. So, according to the data received, it is enough for a person to put ten likes on the Internet on what he likes, after which Facebook can predict his behavior.
Today, the average Facebook user leaves 270 likes, and this number is constantly growing. Perhaps the social network knows more about your behavior than the next of kin.
Basically, I just want to scare you. While our country is crushing Polish apples with tractors, meanwhile a huge wave is approaching us. It is even difficult to describe how much the world will be different. From my point of view, such a thing as "pension" will disappear. But it will be replaced by unconditional income because that is the only way to avoid food riots.
And now, finally, let's move on to the topic of thinking and how people think. I want to tell a story about the first superman in the history of European literature, who appeared before James Bond, Spiderman and even before Sherlock Holmes. This is Rocambole. The author of "Rocambole" was a literary negro Alexandre Dumas (referring to the popular French novelist Ponson du Terraille - site) who wrote several novels for him.
The story about Rocambol was printed in parts, in paperback, and all of France was waiting for the continuation. Rocambole got into incredible troubles, came out of them with brilliance, fenced, seduced - a kind of James Bond of the 19th century. The only problem was that the rights to Rocambol did not belong to the author, but to the publisher.
As the popularity of Rocambole grew, the author's appetites naturally also increased, he wanted to receive more money. The publisher at some point decided that he was paying the author too much, and anyone could generate such nonsense in industrial quantities.
Then he said to the author: “My friend, I felt very good with you, but now you are finishing the last novel and we are saying goodbye. You can't kill a hero, and a few hungry journalists will write a sequel for three times cheaper.
"Good," said the author of Rocambole. And the last book about the adventures of Superman ended like this: the pirates caught the brave Rocambole, tied him hand and foot, locked him in a steel cage and threw him into the sea. And that's it, the author left, and all of France froze in anticipation. Everyone was wondering what would happen next, the hero could not die like that.
Then budget successors got down to business, and they came to a standstill. Rocambole had to be saved somehow, but it was not clear how to save him, because everything that they offered was no good.
And a week after all these disembodied attempts, the publisher gave up: “Man, forgive me, I got excited. I'm attractive, you're damn attractive. Let's be best friends, I agree to your terms, save our guy because France is waiting."
A new edition is out. Readers with excitement open the sequel and see: “Rockambolle, who got out of the deadly abyss, swam to the shore with confident strokes.” All. At this moment, everyone thinks the same thing: “What, it was possible like that?”.
So, from my point of view, the most important condition for productive thinking is courage. Maybe you remember the story about the man who traded a paperclip for a house. In my opinion, only nine operations a year. And what, so it was possible? Or about how the guys bought a site 1000x1000 pixels, began to sell each for a dollar, after which they earned $ 1 million. Was it also possible?
The fact is that the pressure of society on us is so great that we are all cowards and opportunists. We are very similar in our way of thinking. There was such an experiment with a hungry chicken, a transparent fence and food. All the chicken had to do was run around the fence either from the left or from the right.
But the chicken took a few steps in one direction, then looked and thought, “Something I’m moving too far away from food,” returned and took a few steps in the other direction. Our brains work in much the same way. But Bill Gates once said well: "If no one laughs at your idea, then it is not good enough."
There is a very good exercise for thinking: always doubt the obvious, that which no one doubts. As a rule, this is where the most interesting lies.
For example: there is such a type of transport - a trolleybus. For some reason, you can only enter the trolleybus through the front door, and this is a very long time, because the passenger puts the bag on, the sensor does not work for him, he turns the bag over, some grandmother buys a ticket from the driver, the queue grows, everyone swears.
And then there is another mode of transport - a tram, in which you can enter any door. I can't even imagine what a titanic effort of thought will be required in order to take a risk and borrow the "tram" experience and apply it in a trolley bus. And so it is in absolutely everything.
In China, there are family doctors who only receive money when their client is not sick. As soon as a person falls ill, it means that the doctor is not doing his job well. Can you imagine how he runs after his client? “My friend, something you sit a lot. It seems to me that you need to move more, let's review your diet.
Imagine if we introduce the same system for road workers. The guys will receive money only when there are no potholes on the road. Do you think these people will continue to lay asphalt in the rain? Do not stop doubting the obvious.
We all studied according to the so-called Prussian education system. All children sit silently; until the teacher asks, they are silent. And the worst thing is that until the dumbest one understands, the class does not move on. And this is a monstrous catastrophe, because in fact the only resource that a person has is his time. And it is spent at school very stupidly.
The entire school curriculum without overvoltage can be completed in two years. You cannot limit the maximum learning rate. Schools should dictate only the minimum speed: if a child is good at mathematics, let him be in the eleventh grade in mathematics, and go on a par with the rest in singing.
Another monstrous habit that is instilled in school is the punishment for mistakes. If you think that you can’t have a child without punishment and twos, then I’ll tell you that people who thought that if a child wasn’t spanked in class, he wouldn’t study, thought the same way.
The fact is that the only way to learn new things available to a person is to consistently make mistakes. What is an experiment? This is when you consistently make one mistake after another. You put forward a theory and then try to test it. Not everyone has the patience, like Edison, to do ten thousand experiments to find a spiral for a light bulb, but mistakes should be rewarded.
What is the difference between a good scientist and a charlatan? If a good scientist has some kind of hypothesis, then, first of all, he will look not for examples that confirm the hypothesis, but for examples that refute it. because there are plenty of supporting examples.
Our tiny brain weighs about one and a half kilograms (give or take). It consumes up to 20% of the total energy of the body. Thinking is very expensive. That is why a person tries to do everything without thinking. That is, he once figured out how it works, and continues to perform all such actions automatically.
I hope the future is to translate learning into play. Because a person can work hard and hard for a short time, but he can play endlessly. I have read a huge number of books on the technology of thinking, but nowhere have I seen a simple idea that the most important thing in the process of thinking is yourself.
Because you need to think, you need to solve the problem. Therefore, you must know how to put yourself in the right frame of mind. What is the difference between an amateur and a professional? An amateur can produce a very good result if the work inspires him, if the stars are right, if he is in a good mood.
And a professional always gives a good result - regardless of whether he had a fight with his wife, whether his daughter's hamster died or whether his tooth hurts. The basis of professionalism is knowing yourself well. Know what makes you happy.
There was a German industrialist Krupp who brought Hitler to power. He was very inspired by the "smell of nature" - as he called the smell of manure. He even made a special ventilation to his office from the stables. And Agatha Christie, for example, hated washing dishes.
She didn't understand why she, a great writer, should waste her time scrubbing grease off plates. And so when she needed to come up with a particularly sophisticated murder, she began to wash the dishes. And her hatred for this occupation was transformed.
Since we are not so different from animals - in fact, we are animals - the thing that works very well for us is food reinforcement. In other words, if you have something that you really like to eat - for example, some kind of chocolate - then put it in front of you, but do not touch it until you solve the problem.
And when you do solve it, firstly, this chocolate bar will seem to you much tastier than usual, and secondly, the most important process will take place in your head: between the center responsible for solving the problem and the organs responsible for pleasure, connection will be established. Your task is to strengthen this connection in every possible way, because as soon as you begin to enjoy complex things, your performance will increase dramatically.
Americans have a so-called "rule of three Bs". They believe that all brilliant ideas were invented in just three places: a bus (bus), bed (bed) and bathroom (bathroom). I urge you to know what time is most productive for you and protect it, because then you will enjoy working.
However, it seems to me that another brilliant thing is missing from the list - walking. A huge number of ideas were invented just on the go, when a person was just walking somewhere. Therefore, it is often not worth sitting still to solve a problem, it is better to be distracted and take a walk, while the brain will continue to work.
By the way, another good example is cork. For a modern person, this is a unique opportunity to be alone. At this time, you do whatever you want: if you want - listen to audiobooks, if you want - music, if you want - think about anything. From the fact that you will boil, you will not get there faster. It's the simple idea that by willpower you can make yourself a much happier person.
There is a classic example given by Adam Smith. This example at one time had a very strong effect on Karl Marx and, among other things, inspired him to write Capital. There was such a thing as a big safety pin. In those days, the economy was extremely necessary, but expensive.
Because for the manufacture of one pin it was necessary to do 18 operations: stretch the wire, cut the wire, sharpen the wire, bend it - in general, the process is not fast. A good craftsman could make up to 20 pins per day. This is not enough, that's why they were so expensive.
And then there was an amazing experience. 18 masters were chosen and each was given to perform only one operation. It would seem that at school we were taught that the sum does not change from the rearrangement of the places of the terms. What's the difference: 18 times 20, or 20 times 18 - all the same, the output will be 360.
What was the surprise of those present when, by the end of the working day, 18 craftsmen produced not 360, but 48 thousand pins. Such a simple experiment led to the appearance of the conveyor - in fact, the most inhuman thing in the world. Because to force a person to perform the same operation throughout his life - in my opinion, this is a crime.
Why did I tell this story? To the fact that I wanted to do the same with the process of thinking. I wanted to break everything that our brain can do into very simple operations. And I came to the conclusion that there are far fewer of them than 18.
The 1+1 addition is an example of a simple thinking algorithm. Imagine we have a subset of whales and a subset of sharks. At some point they intersect, and this intersection gives us whale sharks. This idea of adding two realities is very effective. Now I will explain.
In Moscow there is such a store "Republic". At one time it started as a bookstore, then book sales fell, and entrepreneurs began to sell, by and large, everything there. Including a lot of any Chinese, creative garbage. It even has gum magnets, and I know people who think it's a cool idea.
I'll explain now: it works on the principle of two intersecting circles. Imagine that you are a company that produces these magnets, and you need to somehow diversify the range. In one set we have magnets, and in the other subset we have something that can hang vertically on the wall.
Then we get a huge number of options. It could be a screw, it could be a nail, it could be any small animal, from a fly to a gecko, and so on.
Or another example. There is also a stand for toothpicks in the form of a voodoo doll. Here we are doing the same thing: pretending to be making toothpick coasters. To do this, we think about what something long and thin can stick out of.
The first thing that comes to mind is hedgehogs, porcupines, brushes, combs, Saint Sebastian, cactus and so on. Do you understand how simple it is?
Another very good way of thinking is to think in terms of things. The fact is that our brain is able to establish a connection between two objects, no matter how different they may seem. In cinema, this is called the Kuleshov effect.
If we first show the food and then the person's face, then it will seem to us that the person is hungry. If first we show a naked woman, and then the same face of a man, then it will seem to us that he lusts. Etc.
I'll tell you a little story about an Alpine ski resort that once ran into a problem. From time to time, the wires next to it would freeze over due to accumulated snow and could break, in which case the resort was left without electricity. Then the owners brought in a group of engineers and gave them a task. They fought for a long time, and then, when the group finally reached a dead end, the leader said: “Guys, the brainstorming is over. Go to the village and let everyone buy some object and return with it for discussion.
One man walked through the alpine village and brought a pot of honey. “So what?” they asked him. “Well, how what? We install a pot of honey on top of the power line. Bears, attracted by the smell of honey, will climb on it, shake power lines, then snow will be shaken off them.
Then another said: “Listen, we are constantly chasing helicopters. They transport the sick, throw climbers and skiers on the mountains. Let the helicopters fly not just like that, but along or near the lines. Then they will solve this problem with snow practically free of charge.
Do you understand what I mean? It's good when a person thinks. There was such a thing on Kickstarter - a cube with different buttons, switches, shutters. In general, such chewing gum for hands. And he was wildly popular. Well, it's very useful to keep something like that in a drawer. Lots of different things. And in the event of a problem, just sort through and think about how you can solve it with their help.
Thanks to television, humanity is gradually unlearning how to think and invent new things. What for? When the “eye to the world” entertains, and invents itself, and tells itself, and conveniently puts it in your mouth. Due to the uselessness of being creative, this ability atrophies in many. In that case, read below...
How to create new solutions (ideas, thoughts, problem solving…)
1. Examine the circumstances with the issue being resolved
It is necessary to (1) contemplate everything that relates to a topic in which a fresh idea is needed. And also (2) draw on your own or someone else's experience. But before...
Everyone's problem is filtering. As soon as a person sees in front of him, a “color filter” is immediately superimposed on his eyes.
"Filter" - bias, automatic or learned reaction, stereotyped thinking, ...
Freedom from filters - helps to see clearly, openly, objectively.
In general, the analogy with colored glass is complete. Unclouded vision sees Reality better than otherwise. Although the pink glass - everything looks nicer.
1.1 Contemplate correctly. How to look at the world without filters
This is how a child looks. You can recall the state when you did not yet have your own opinion on this or that issue. When everything was not yet divided into white / black, bad / good ...
So look at the new amazing thing. Watch until you start thinking with yourself, rummaging through your memory, thinking about what it should be like.
Eastern school meditation teaches contemplation, alas, for the pro-Western the very idea is not clear. How is it to contemplate? Yes, it's simple - look, feel, admire, but DO NOT THINK, DO NOT CRITICIZE, DO NOT COMPARE ... (turn off "I'm a talker" and "reasoning").
1.2. Remember all your own and others
Recollection also belongs to learning, i.e. previous experience on the subject. But you need to be able to look at memory without filters already.
As an option, or it is the only option if the topic is new: turn to third-party resources. The goal is to gain knowledge.
At this stage, you do not need to forcibly squeeze out a know-how idea, an answer to your required question. More on that below...
2. Don't wait for "Aha!!!". Relax, take a distance, be distracted by others
Don't wait for a new idea. Do not wait and do not squeeze it out of yourself. Forget, relax...
According to a certain nature, a person is arranged in such a way that he cannot simultaneously expect and create. It's like two sides of the same coin: while you're looking at the eagle, you can't see tails.
Perhaps, as you observe, collect new information, at one fine moment, the desired brilliant idea will flash like a light bulb of enlightenment. Do not rush to put an end to this and limit yourself to the like. Perhaps the best idea is around the corner...
Just as our temperaments and abilities are different, the ideal answer to a long-awaited question can come in different ways.
He can come in a dream, the next day, in a month, or maybe in half an hour ...
You can’t distance yourself - get distracted by another topic of life. Sooner or later a new, indeed, new original thought will come.
A bit of biology
How is a thought, a word, an image stored at the physiological level in the brain? Answer: in the form of synoptic connections. Here they learned a new word - a new synoptic connection was formed.
These connections are some kind of brain tangles consisting of synapses, building blocks of the brain. There are a lot of them. Several "bricks" consist of either a word, or a thought, or a concept...
At the same time, this is something that can be felt with hands (real substance, matter, though very microscopic, and hands are also needed to touch them very microscopic).
How does a new idea appear? Thanks to a new connection between similar connections (balls, bricks).
Compared to a smart toy. It's like a Lego constructor: there was a square and a cube in our hands, we connected them - bam, a new figure appeared. But for this you need to have a square and a cube.
Compared to electricity. It's like two contacts. A new thought is formed due to the discharge between them. But for this to happen: you need to have two wires (memory, knowledge of your own or someone else's) and let the current flow, at least on one wire (activate knowledge, by remembering or contemplating).
A step-by-step plan for creating a new thought:
- Explore
- Behold
- Recall
- Draw on someone else's experience
- Distance yourself. Give the opportunity to come up with a new idea.
Do not wait for her, do not "squeeze" her out of yourself. She can come at any moment. It is advisable to bring a chair with you. For when she comes: she has not knocked you down with her genius. Joke)
