About the Brain...

Photo Creative Commons License by brain blogger

The brain evolved to predict, and it does so by identifying patterns. That's what I have been doing a lot lately: trying to identify patterns.

When those patterns break down, as in a situation (chaos) that makes no sense, or items placed where they shouldn't be (an easy chair in the deep woods), the brain tries to find anything that does make sense. The persistent urge to find a coherent pattern makes it all the more likely that the brain will find one.

Researchers call this implicit learning, or knowledge gained without awareness. How often have you arrived at a decision, or an understanding, only to realize you have been 'processing' that thought for some time, without even being aware of processing?

New research supports what many experimental artists, free thinkers and others have always insisted: at least some of the time, disorientation begets creative thinking.

I sure hope that's true. I've become bogged down in what feels like my very own gerbil cage, spinning around and around. What was it Shakespeare said, something about being full of sound and fury and signifying nothing? Or was that the Bible?

I could use a creative breakthrough!