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Bisociation

(Also see creativity, creative duos, creative quartets and other keywords)
One White Bit
One White Bit Noun Idea 3718892

The Eureka Cliché

The popular figure of the lone genius with a rare and unique brain is encapsulated in the modern cliché of the inventor having a 'lightbulb' moment. In such cases the insight is always shown to emanate from a single source - i.e. the brain of the genius (see creativity). This idea is also compatible with the assumption that a singular 'silver bullet' or widget is all that we need for the world to improve.

Bisociation

One White Bit
One White Bit Noun Collaboration 3659669
However, according to Arthur Koestler (1905-1983) all creative thinking is a combinatorial process. This idea underpins his term bisociation (Koestler, 1967) which he claims as a superset of all other creativity tools. In his method, two, or more, apparently incompatible frames of thought are forced together. By ‘frames’ he means "any ability, habit, or skill, any pattern of ordered behaviour governed by a 'code' of fixed rules". When this happens, the mind is believed to struggle to make rational connections. Eventually, it makes a creative leap that, if successful, may surprise all of the collaborators.

Recombination

Bisociation is a combinatorial model, whether it combines things, ideas, viewpoints, or people. There is, therefore, an interesting parallel between ‘creative innovation’ and sexual reproduction. In both cases, two ‘parent’ factors combine to create a new (i.e. third) outcome that differs from each. Whether in sexual reproduction, or in ‘creative innovation’, successful innovation is difficult to achieve. This is because their success depends on the appropriate alignment of a huge number of complex, usually hidden, or unknown, factors.

A dynamic act

Koestler coined the term ‘bisociation’ in his 1964 book ‘The Act of Creation’. It describes the moment when two seemingly unconnected contexts or ‘matrices of experience’ form a new relationship and develop a shared meaning or purpose. He used this idea to refer to a creative act that is dynamic and unpredictable, belonging to several ‘planes’ of existence rather than a non-creative act that derives from a linear or causal chain of events. His basic idea is that the creative act is a "bisociation" (not mere association) which happens, if two (or more) apparently incompatible frames of thought ("matrices") are brought together by an ingenious mind. One of the key principles is the harnessing (by combining) elements that seem dissonant from each other, or what Koestler calls "self-consistent but habitually incompatible frames of reference...not merely linked to one associative context, but bisociated with two." (Koestler, c1964). See Wikipedia entry

A Precedent?

Henri Poincaré appears to have discussed creativity in a similar way to Koestler: "One evening, contrary to my custom, I drank black coffee and could not sleep. Ideas rose in crowds; I felt them collide until pairs interlocked, so to speak, making a stable combination. It seems, in such cases, that one is present at his own unconscious work, made partially perceptible to the over-excited consciousness, yet without having changed its nature. Then we vaguely comprehend what distinguishes the two mechanisms or, if you wish, the working methods of the two egos." (Poincaré, H., & Halsted, G. B., (1902-08),

References

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