The Art of Thought

1. The Art of Thought Written by: Graham Wallas Presented by: Steve Kaman

2. Written in Three Parts • Part I – (Chapters 1 - 3) • Discussion of need for an art of thought • Part II – (Chapters 4 - 9) • Explanation of applications of art of thought • Part III – (Chapters 10 - 12) • Discussion of training in the art of thought

3. Four Parts of a Thought • Preparation • Incubation • Illumination • Verification

4. Preparation “Our mind is not likely to give us a clear answer to any particular problem unless we set it a clear question, and we are more likely to notice the significance of any new piece of evidence, or new association of ideas, if we have formed a definite conception of a case to be proved or disproved.”

5. Incubation • First part, “…we do not voluntarily or consciously think on a particular problem” • Second, “..is the positive fact that a series of unconscious and involuntary mental events take place during that period.” • We can operate in the preparation phase of a thought, while in the incubation phase of another, to make more effective use of time.

6. Illumination • The proverbial “light bulb” or “click” as the idea come to fruition. • “I find it convenient to use the term ‘Intimation’ for that moment in the Illumination stage when our fringe-consciousness of an association-train is in the state of rising consciousness which indicates that the fully conscious flash of success is coming.”

7. Verification • Period where the validity of an idea is tested. • The new idea is expounded upon to come up with the final solution.

8. Why an Art of Thought? • There is “natural” ability associated with any skill, but there must be teaching to nurture it to fruition. • Golfer, learning grip • Violinist, learning proper technique • Poets, learning vocabulary • So, too, must the thinker learn proper techniques to perform his or her craft.

9. Thought and Emotion • “…it is easier to retain an affect indirectly by concentrating attention on the sensation which may have stimulated it than by attending directly to the affect itself.”

10. Thought and Habit • “Every one…of our mental activities in the stages of Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Verification, not only helps to produce an immediate output of successful thought, but leaves our organism more able and more inclined to repeat that activity in the future.” • Habits can make it easier to create thoughts.

11. The Thinker at School • Where would Plato be if he were born today? • (In 1926) Experimental school in New York for “specially gifted children”

12. Public Education • “One of the most difficult elements in this compromise is the question how far and at what age the teacher should aim at teaching the pupil to stimulate his mental energy by conscious and voluntary effort; and how far mental energy should be left to grow out of the pupil’s own spontaneous ‘urge’.” • “For the potential thinker ‘boredom in the class-room’ means, not merely a temporary loss of happiness, but the compulsory production of intellectual habits which will be fatal to his future efficiency.”

13. Connections to Other Readings • Separation of consciousness • “A born orator will use better gestures if, as he speaks, he is conscious of his audience than if he is conscious of his hands.” • Creative Web • “All the activities of a living organism produce, besides their immediate effects of the organism and its environment, later and more permanent effects on the future behavior –pattern of the organism.”

14. Connections to Other Readings • Creativity in Business • “Creative thinkers have noticed, not only that their best single ideas seemed to come to them by automatic Illumination, but that their more continuous work was often most successful when it was done without the strain of effort, and even without any conscious feeling of volition.”

15. Questions?