A blog post about ideas.

Ideation is the formation of an idea, but how do we ideate? 

The route of the word is “to see”, so when we have an idea we see something. In that moment of realization, we hold on to something quite abstract. Some describe it as a click or pattern or insight. This “seeing” is with the mind, however, not the eyes. Idea also implies sentiment or direction – a path one might say. It’s this last point that resonates with me most. When we are lost, in the sea of thoughts, most of the time the consequences are immediate (no consciousness required). However, sometimes we must pause and ideate. Our path, the next step, is unclear. 

What do we do when we are lost? Orienting oneself would be smart. Even if we do not know where we are explicitly, where are we implicitly? What do our surroundings tell us? If it’s dark we can reach out slightly, make small steps in any direction to learn more. These need not have direction, they are random but we learn. It is like a game of charades, small pieces of information can lead us to an informed guess. Eventually the idea appears.

How do these metaphors help me with research? Sometimes we just hope that new ideas will come to us: twiddling our thumbs, praying to the gods, preparing that sacrificial goat. Though, ideating is active not passive. Generating an idea requires work and failure. You cannot ideate if you do not try. Failure works best with short feedback loops (which is why error messages in code are so powerful). This allows us to reach out, receive pain or reward and update our picture. 

So I challenge you to think about this. When you next struggle for an idea, think about the space before and the space after that idea. Enjoy your struggle in finding what an idea really is and meditate on that concept when you arrive at it. Hone your ideation for when they come freely you can choose the best of them. 

So idea would, where he not idea call’d retain that dear perfection…