A couple years ago, I reformatted these for use with the unix "fortune" utility, in case you need oblique strategies on the command line. (I sure do.) https://github.com/threemachines/obliqueMOTD
Its a really cool idea and I think its helpful. However, I've unfortunately realized that I don't really need that kind of creativity in anything I do. I need insight and understanding, I need to actually do the things I want to do, and I need to research solutions, but very rarely do I actually need to be creative in the sense of coming up with completely new ideas to get past a creative block. It was kind of a sad realization.
Yes. Sadly, the kind of help one needs in creative fields is rarely the kind of help one needs in analytic fields.
I've done a lot of programming, and also quite a bit of acting.
The types of thinking "oblique strategies" suggest can be amazing for figuring out a new different way to act a scene -- an absolute goldmine. But they're of absolutely zero use in programming.
Similarly, the kind of logical and analytical thinking that helps in programming... seems to be purely harmful in acting.
It actually took me quite a long time to realize how fundamentally different the kind of thinking needed for creative vs. analytical tasks is. At least for me, there is almost zero useful transference. If anything, being good at one interferes with the other, until you learn to keep the skills separate.
In technical spaces, creative work seems to largely consist of combining ideas and seeing if the combination already exists and/or if it's likely to work in real life.
In my experience, the few times I've the most creative ideas, I had them in the bathroom -- and usually after I've been turning over ideas (writing and rewriting in Google Docs) for days. (Writing helped with converging -- it's not as useful for diverging. Talking to others usually helps for the latter but it's hit or miss.)
Oblique Strategies cards sound like they would be useful for certain artistic domains. When I was taking creative writing and storytelling classes, I had a lot of trouble generating story ideas. I used similar randomizer aids (as writing prompts) to see latent possibilities.
There are similar tools for generating startup ideas but I wonder if anyone's ever executed on any of these:
I have my own deck too. I really enjoy displaying a new card every week on my desk. My friend and I even devised a little ritual when we draw cards. All hail the god of ambient, Brian Eno.
If this is your first introduction to Brian Eno, do yourself a favor and look into his discography. David Bowie’s “Low” is one of my favorite albums of all time (a collaboration with Eno and Tony Visconti. Side point: Visconti created one of the most interesting snare drum sounds of all time on that album.) His solo albums — “Another Green World”, etc — are also amazing.
Brian Eno manages to sneak up on lots of my favorite albums. As you said Bowie's "Low", but also David Byrne's "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today", and even the game Spore's soundtrack!
I've enjoyed Innovative Whackpack and the series [0]. While I can't say it has given me any "breakthroughs", it is a fun exercise to do when you are otherwise stressed out :)
I do wonder to what degree these methods promote creativity just by breaking you out of your normal thought cycles (which may be stuck in a nonproductive spinloop)
Does anyone know of anything similar that's public domain? I'm a little surprised that they're included in gnu/linix utilities as they're copyright Eno and Schmidt.
The default is, of course, Tarot card readings which has a nicely formatted text and some analysis in the dariusk/corpora repo [1]. It'd be nice to have something similar so others can play around with it without fear of copyright infringement.
Readit News
https://kevinlawler.com/prompts
I've done a lot of programming, and also quite a bit of acting.
The types of thinking "oblique strategies" suggest can be amazing for figuring out a new different way to act a scene -- an absolute goldmine. But they're of absolutely zero use in programming.
Similarly, the kind of logical and analytical thinking that helps in programming... seems to be purely harmful in acting.
It actually took me quite a long time to realize how fundamentally different the kind of thinking needed for creative vs. analytical tasks is. At least for me, there is almost zero useful transference. If anything, being good at one interferes with the other, until you learn to keep the skills separate.
In my experience, the few times I've the most creative ideas, I had them in the bathroom -- and usually after I've been turning over ideas (writing and rewriting in Google Docs) for days. (Writing helped with converging -- it's not as useful for diverging. Talking to others usually helps for the latter but it's hit or miss.)
Oblique Strategies cards sound like they would be useful for certain artistic domains. When I was taking creative writing and storytelling classes, I had a lot of trouble generating story ideas. I used similar randomizer aids (as writing prompts) to see latent possibilities.
There are similar tools for generating startup ideas but I wonder if anyone's ever executed on any of these:
https://breue.com/good_startup_ideas
[0] https://refactoring.com/catalog/
https://mobile.twitter.com/infinite_eno.
Coincidentally I just revived and tweaked it a bit yesterday, results should be a better from here on. Tweets more or less daily.
Brian Eno and Will Wright discussed generative systems at a Long Now Foundation seminar in 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfc-DQorohc
Brian Eno and Danny Hillis discussed "The Long Now, Now" at a Long Now Foundation seminar in 2010:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvmW4hyccBg
Brian Eno, Steward Brand, and Alexander Rose discuss "Long Finance" at a Long Now Foundation seminar in 2010:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31wDsZtKYMc
Create your own with the Brian Eno Bloom app too :)
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGwrUGu1V1k
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Innovative-Whack-Pack-Roger-Oech/dp/1...
The default is, of course, Tarot card readings which has a nicely formatted text and some analysis in the dariusk/corpora repo [1]. It'd be nice to have something similar so others can play around with it without fear of copyright infringement.
[1] https://github.com/dariusk/corpora/blob/master/data/divinati...
It picks a card based on the recorded time on-press-up as well as the current accelerometer reading.
Demo: https://imgur.com/gallery/1UTO0Fe
I've used it for many bugs while programming. I find that the little bit of insight/encouragement goes a long way.