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I've got a theory about ideas/inspiration. Basically, if you ask a question that has no follow-up/dependent questions, then magically your brain will supply the
by Tycho 16y ago
I've got a theory about ideas/inspiration. Basically, if you ask a question that has no follow-up/dependent questions, then magically your brain will supply the answer (in a short time-frame). You just need to drill down to that terminal node. Most people stop further up the tree. In fact usually you're not trying to find answers, just to learn something that's already documented. Perhaps also you need the sister/cousin nodes to be in place/known, so that when the idea comes you get that final-piece-of-the-puzzle 'chink,' the Eureka feeling. Granted I've never worked on deep research problems but whenever I need a good new idea to proceed, it tends to come easily. Just by identifying where the missing link should be, you are gifted what it is.
- espeed 16y agoWill you give us an example?
- Tycho 16y agoUntil I think of one from my own life - those guys that were making the phone app for nearby people at tech events to view each others 'profiles' (with a view to striking up conversations with the right people), but had to figure out a way to get into these tech events/conferences and use the crowd to test their app. Their solution was a cracker (and eventually a spin-off business): Once live, we got like 5 users, since no one really knew about it. To promote this product, we decided to target events, since we thought that events is where people would like to meet each other. We locked ourselves in a room and asked this question over and over: “What is something valuable we can provide to event organizers so that they can promote our product?” Zac finally came up with an idea. He proposed that we could build a kiosk where attendees can type in their name, and a name badge would instantly print. (& while they're there, register for the phone app)