When playing tennis, you may be wearing identical clothing, shoes and gear that
a tennis star wears…… playing with identical ball in identical ground but
certainly it doesn't make you a tennis star. The difference is the difference of
coherence between plays of a tennis star and an amateur player. Sometimes an
idea struck our mind and we say “aha”. This “aha” doesn't come from nowhere.
The information and ideas are already in our brain but they are scattered and
incoherent. When a bunch of ideas or information becomes coherent, we say
“aha”.
Let ma share a “personal aha” that we may alternatively call realization… to
illustrate how coherence of bunch of ideas make us realize things for first time.
We all know about dry and oily skin types. I was struggling to understand that
why people who live in humid areas usually have oily skins and people who live
in dry areas have dry skins (especially in higher altitude where the air is
thinner). It was counterintuitive for me because in dry areas, skin should be
oily to slow down loss of water and in humid areas the skin should be dry to
facilitate in draining out excessive water by evaporation. Reading about desert
insect, Cicada’s approach in using evaporative cooling to control its body
temperature made me realize that, why dry skins are adapted in dry
environment? In dry environment where atmospheric moisture is less than
skin cells, the perspiration works very well in cooling down body temperature
by facilitating evaporation. In contrast in humid areas where moisture content
of air is very high, the perspirations are not of big help in cooling down body
temperature so oily skin is adapted to lower down the rate of heat transfer from
air to body.
May be this is not the only or the real cause but it made me realize that how
coherence of ideas can lead us to aha moments. The immense numbers of
information we put in our brain and the unlimited number of ideas that struck
each day to our minds are really big treasures however, most of them die out
before being able to show their existence. The problem is not because they are
rubbish or not making sense but because they are incoherent. Just as the
difference between a star player and a amateur player is the difference of
coherence, the difference between great thinkers and average thinkers and
writers are….. the difference of coherence.
Naturally, the question arise that we all know the difference of coherence is…..
what categorize one as a great or an average “ ……” but how can one be more
coherent?
I always connect thinking with cooking. You always get something out of your
cooking efforts for yourself but it may not be presentable to others. Cooking
presentable dishes needed some standard, innovative or careful procedures.
Cooking pots are the most important part of cooking. Flat, wide pots are best for
frying and deep and well closed ones for steaming. The same is true about
thinking. Light and commonly known ideas and stories are good for thinking
ideas aimed to be presented for general audience. On other hand, well sorted
data and relevant evidence are required thinking ideas for specialist audience.
The most important thing in thinking ideas is getting inspirations. We watch
chefs’ cooking to learn new recipes but ending up discovering our own versions.
The reason is proportion speaks to tastes. We have evolved our own tastes. The
same is true about thinking ideas. You may read great writers or great thinkers
but their writings or ideas may not feel pleasant to your tastes. So you need to
weigh different books and turning a lot of pages to find writers that feel pleasant
to your tastes. Great thinkers’ great ideas do not always taste great. Great taste
is key in letting your mind to reshuffle your thoughts to come to some sort of
cohesive ideas.
Why should we go beyond of, what are needed? This is what I always ask about
eating? We do not eat just to satisfy our hunger. We like to eat something
because it is delicious or sometimes to treat ourselves. Of course health is
another reason for eating. Same is true about ideas. We go beyond academic
requirements or professional demands to intellectual pleasures they have. We
also go beyond because it enables us to contribute to greater good of our
communities, society or perhaps humanity.
List of some witty writers in English; At least one of theirs' writings may interest you,
Oscar Wilde
George Orwell
Joseph Epstein
C.S. Lewis
David Hume
Thomas Macaulay
Issac Asimov
Winston Churchill
Jack Vance
Walter Durnat
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