Even tumblr is lame predictable nowadays :/ I’d say bring back MSN, mirc, forum discussions. Or at least remove algorithms from our social connections…. Idk like having an option to turn them off?? I’ve been recurring to digital minimalism because the way algorithm/social media is making me slow and dumb is noticeable. I miss when I could deal with boredom, or at least took time to observe tangible things while being bored.
Great thoughts about how coincidence helps adult scholars, which got me to thinking about my teen students. Some of them, the ones who have been allowed to steep themselves in the online world for years, probably haven't experienced the joy of coincidence. I've had students in my writing courses whose fiction reads like (and was literally inspired by) a videogame. Life, to them, has been presented as a series of binary choices that lead to a predetermined end. No wonder why college profs are seeing students who are less curious, less able to handle healthy debate, and who don't seem motivated to improve their minds. In the world that's been presented to them, the appropriate choices will simply appear before them. Coincidence is dismissed as irrelevant.
I know the perspective here is about arts creativity, but you nudge against scientific creativity here as well.
"I’ve occasionally come across weird, lesser-known papers that helped me craft more unique arguments than if I had just used more widely known sources". In science, it is the other way around. Coincidences found during experimentation or data analysis lead to creative argument creation that can then be tested. Without a creative mind to create possible reasons WHY, would a scientist connect mould with antibiotics? Want to electrocute a frog? Science would have little if not for coincidence and creativity...
I'd love to meet you on the street sometime. Alas, not to be because you are there and I am here. Oh well.
I agree; coincidences are great. And that weird thing where you stumble across something that relevant? Happened to me not so long ago - on SM of all places. There's a piece of research I'm doing here, and I stumble across a woman who is in the 'field', in Vienna, where my research stems from, so I email her, and I get information from her that helps me. Nice.
This is the most meaningful way I've seen anyone describe that creativity and coincidence were never really exciting! It's just amazing how the human mind can perceive things more friendlier than a robot can.
brand new to substack. first article i've read. wonderfully put. i am invigorated & excited to read more of your insights as i am a writer myself from a small town in wisconsin & i often struggle to find people to relate to on concepts in this sphere. thank you & keep writing please.
this is a post i wish everybody would read at some point! if explore pages were truly about exploring varied topics and gaining new perspectives- even ones we don't agree with- the whole user experience would be much more meaningful. i feel like intention is truly lost when we consume content only due to an algorithm, and that is why learning is not as exciting anymore either. we don't have to work hard to (actively) find sources and form connections for the things we care to learn about. the curiosity, the sense of chasing ideas and forming opinions, we're lacking all of it now. a reel i've come across is something that simultaneously appears for my friend, and now we both lack the opportunity to share something new along with the lack of interest in further discussing the material.
A total coincidence that literally last night I was talking to my friend about booking a flight from Bangkok to Taipei. What are the odds?! Now I've created a narrative in my head that this is something I must do. I love coincidences 😅
I brought this up with my teen students after I read it. They were flabbergasted by, vexed by, and then inspired. I challenged them to consider seeking out ways to generate coincidence in their lives, and we agreed that one thing they needed to do is get out into the real world more. Thanks for this thought-provoking piece!
Basically we need to bring back 2014 tumblr and BEING RANDOM XD
Even tumblr is lame predictable nowadays :/ I’d say bring back MSN, mirc, forum discussions. Or at least remove algorithms from our social connections…. Idk like having an option to turn them off?? I’ve been recurring to digital minimalism because the way algorithm/social media is making me slow and dumb is noticeable. I miss when I could deal with boredom, or at least took time to observe tangible things while being bored.
Humans thriving on stories is so real. We are nothing without the narrations of all our experiences.
The outliers are the interesting bits of statistics
Outliers make me want to go for the why. The story behind them :)
Great thoughts about how coincidence helps adult scholars, which got me to thinking about my teen students. Some of them, the ones who have been allowed to steep themselves in the online world for years, probably haven't experienced the joy of coincidence. I've had students in my writing courses whose fiction reads like (and was literally inspired by) a videogame. Life, to them, has been presented as a series of binary choices that lead to a predetermined end. No wonder why college profs are seeing students who are less curious, less able to handle healthy debate, and who don't seem motivated to improve their minds. In the world that's been presented to them, the appropriate choices will simply appear before them. Coincidence is dismissed as irrelevant.
I know the perspective here is about arts creativity, but you nudge against scientific creativity here as well.
"I’ve occasionally come across weird, lesser-known papers that helped me craft more unique arguments than if I had just used more widely known sources". In science, it is the other way around. Coincidences found during experimentation or data analysis lead to creative argument creation that can then be tested. Without a creative mind to create possible reasons WHY, would a scientist connect mould with antibiotics? Want to electrocute a frog? Science would have little if not for coincidence and creativity...
Cool source here: https://www.npr.org/2016/02/24/467805055/whoops-twelve-tales-of-accidental-brilliance-in-science
I'd love to meet you on the street sometime. Alas, not to be because you are there and I am here. Oh well.
I agree; coincidences are great. And that weird thing where you stumble across something that relevant? Happened to me not so long ago - on SM of all places. There's a piece of research I'm doing here, and I stumble across a woman who is in the 'field', in Vienna, where my research stems from, so I email her, and I get information from her that helps me. Nice.
This is the most meaningful way I've seen anyone describe that creativity and coincidence were never really exciting! It's just amazing how the human mind can perceive things more friendlier than a robot can.
This blog post was also meaningful to me!
brand new to substack. first article i've read. wonderfully put. i am invigorated & excited to read more of your insights as i am a writer myself from a small town in wisconsin & i often struggle to find people to relate to on concepts in this sphere. thank you & keep writing please.
i love this!
this is a post i wish everybody would read at some point! if explore pages were truly about exploring varied topics and gaining new perspectives- even ones we don't agree with- the whole user experience would be much more meaningful. i feel like intention is truly lost when we consume content only due to an algorithm, and that is why learning is not as exciting anymore either. we don't have to work hard to (actively) find sources and form connections for the things we care to learn about. the curiosity, the sense of chasing ideas and forming opinions, we're lacking all of it now. a reel i've come across is something that simultaneously appears for my friend, and now we both lack the opportunity to share something new along with the lack of interest in further discussing the material.
Dang, this was good.
A total coincidence that literally last night I was talking to my friend about booking a flight from Bangkok to Taipei. What are the odds?! Now I've created a narrative in my head that this is something I must do. I love coincidences 😅
Machines DO NOT THINK. Artificial intelligence is not an intelligence but a highly performing search engine.
Framing "creativity" as "creating connections from randomness" is such a practical angle to encourage it
I brought this up with my teen students after I read it. They were flabbergasted by, vexed by, and then inspired. I challenged them to consider seeking out ways to generate coincidence in their lives, and we agreed that one thing they needed to do is get out into the real world more. Thanks for this thought-provoking piece!