From the Inspirational Thought Unit
I've been thinking and working on this idea of "re-wilding" your imagination for the last six months. I think it's important to have your finger on the pulse of popular culture, but that can also be a crutch for creativity. How do avoid making derivative work when you are drinking from the same well as everyone else?
How do you make something new?
This question is always sitting at the back of my mind, so when I read this quote from Gregory Bateson, it resonated with me instantly.
First, Gregory Bateson was, according to his wikipedia entry, "an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields." When you're into that many varied things, and not just into them, but an expert in those fields you tend to have an understanding of the world that your average instrgram surfer doesn't get.
Here's what he said:
No system (neither computer no organism) can produce anything new unless the system contains some source of the random.
Great. So how do you introduce more random into your life? Well, for one thing you can avoid anything that uses an algorithm to populate a feed. In fact, probably avoid anything that has a "feed" as a feature. The social media algorithm is designed to A) show you what you are familiar with and known to like and B) keep your eyes glued on that screen and tapping as long as it can. I can think of 5 other things you can do, but I'll save those for another letter.
Assignment for the week, seek out situations and platforms that get you acquainted with more randomness.
-Jake
