On Wed, Nov 27, 2002 at 05:42:55AM -0800, Nick Arnett wrote: > Seems to me that you've just shot down your proposition, since those > words limit it to selected cases.
No, it means my proposition is valid. The longer people can work without getting tired, the more they will get done. I've rarely met people who can't work more than 6 hours without getting tired. > Now we can agree, although I'd say it thus: for some people, dealing > with some kinds of work, more hours yields more output. Generally > speaking, I'll add, those are the less creative kinds of work. No, we don't agree. Creative work can have people with more endurance than, for example, non-physical drudge work or physical labor. Many more people find the creative work enjoyable and so can work at it longer without tiring. That is one reason why you see more people voluntarily working overtime for creative jobs and not for jobs like secretary or construction worker. > > > I think the real trick is to stimulate as much of your mind as > > possible in as many ways related to the problem as possible. > > There's the rub -- you never know what might be related. But you can make some really good guesses, good enough to greatly increase your efficiency. > Pick up any book on creativity and you'll find that creative people > are interested in everything. (We're into an area of my expertise > here; IIRC, that very sentence appears on my web site.) Metaphor is > powerful, so is letting a problem linger in the back of one's head. > Big problems are rarely solved by tackling them head-on; many are > serendipitous. That is mostly sensationalism and wishful thinking. It doesn't make a good story to say that you were working on the problem for hours and you solved it. It makes a great story to say you were in the bathtub and suddenly had to jump out and run naked to your desk to write down the idea that just occurred to you. Selective memory and drama. > Serendipity is not something you can force to happen, but it's not > random, either. The first part is a tautology or a useless definition, so I'll ignore it, and the second part conflicts with the first. > Head in an interesting direction and you're likely to find things you > weren't even looking for. Head in an interesting direction related to what you are working on, and you are likely to find useful things that will help you get your work done. You can't absolutely force ideas, but you can make them more likely. > Not every task should be approached this way; sometimes focus and > follow-through are far more important than creativity. Learning how > to switch deliberately from one mode to the other is an extremely > valuable skill. Which contradicts your statement about not being able to influence ideas to happen. (I use influence instead of force since I assume that is what you meant; neither of us would argue that you can absolutely force an idea to come at a given time) -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
