This has often happened with me-Whenever I have some sort of New Idea on any of the Topics to speak/write about, don’t know how I always FIND OUT/COME ACROSS something similar. This kind of Demotivates me, for I think that no matter how hard I try, whatever Idea I will come about will eventually end up being present on the Net or out there in the World. Thus, Producing something Original SEEMS HARD nowadays.
So, in this Blog, I will try to showcase some of the Points, and Habits/Things that are making producing something new hard and tough-well, the biggest of them all and the main root is the lack of Deep Work(to know what Deep Work is, I would say that Cal Newport’s book gives a great explanation and provides a wide understanding on the same-even I am reading the book, and learning a lot to be true). So yes, these are the Few Main Points that I consider to be the main Root and the Causes-
LACK OF CREATIVITY
This is one of the Biggest Reasons why we are unable to think of something new. The very fact that we live in an Advanced World, hampers our thinking. To think, one must LOVE TO CHASE THE ANSWERS and get to that with one’s OWN HARDWORK-but all thanks to Google and Wikipedia, all we have to do is Swipe Up and type the Question. Due to the easy accessibility of the Answers to the Struggles, no doubt we can get the Correct Solution, but that comes with a Heavy Price. You see, the brain is Developed in such a way that it learns from almost everything. From learning how to catch a ball, to riding a Bicycle; In all of these activities that your brain is engaged in, required Mental as well as Physical Input. When you fully thought of it, gave your 100% in it and learned from mistakes, only then was your brain trained to learn that. Similarly, thinking OUT OF THE BOX and being CREATIVE is not something that is inbuilt or genetic, but rather, it is DEVELOPED-developed by challenging yourself and struggling in the Journey of learning. This is the reason that you would notice that most of the Breakthroughs in any of the Fields happened after the Renaissance till the late 20th Century(some breakthroughs need technological support, and thus, their happening was more of a Technology Dependent over Thought/Idea/Thinking dependent). The biggest reason for this is that resources were AVAILABLE, but not easily ACCESSIBLE compared to now. Thus, there was an Active Involvement to get the Resources and to understand things-and in the Process of learning, discovering and producing, many people SLIPPED onto an idea that we now call “Revolutionary”. If this seems PHILOSOPHICAL and something that does not apply to the Practical world, here are some facts- “Potato Chips were invented when a Chef, George Crum was Trying to make his Potato Wedges Thinner and Thinner to avoid the complaints of THICK and SOGGY Potato Wedges”. Also, “a Cloth Merchant was trying to improve his glasses to look at the pattern of the Clothes properly, but what he ended up inventing was a Simple Microscope.” In the above examples, something new came up UNEXPECTEDLY(by Chance of Sheer Luck), but the main root of that coming up in the first place was common-Actively Engaging Yourself to find a Solution a Problem. Had they not thought to find a solution and rather not engage in the Activity, the world might have been a different place!
AN OVER-ASSUMPTIOUS MIND
Our mind loves patterns. It is not the fault of an Individual to relate the Random Shape of a Cloud to something we have seen, but that is how our brains have evolved. Our brain has learned to identify patterns, connect them and see them even in the places where they were not even meant to act like a Pattern. Say, if I were to ask you what would come after 5, 6, 10, 6, 15, 6, ___ then, with some thinking, most of you would answer 20. With the Power of Finding these Patterns, your brain also can Extrapolate a Graph with just a Look and determine the Probabilistic Outcome of any situation. Due to these things, most of us, including me, DON’T EVEN TRY OUR BEST TO THINK OUT OF BOX. Having known that the last 5 times I thought something, it was already there on the net, we get the feeling about which I talked at the start-“We FEEL and ASSUME that even my Present Thought/Idea won’t be new!” In thinking so, we trigger two things-first, we prevent our brain from thinking in that Moment. And secondly, we give a message to the Subconscious self that Thinking Differently is Not Very Useful(and that it should be avoided as the Outcomes are mostly Dead Ends). Due to these two things, we just Hinder our Capacity to think NEW/INGENIOUS and be innovative. This might be one of the reasons why there were more Discoveries, Inventions and New Ideas in the mid-19th and the first half and later quarter of the 20th Century. Many would argue with me that ‘since many of the Things have already been found earlier, we cannot Find more new things’-but I would argue that by saying that-“With the Advent of Technology, we can and in-fact have achieved Greater Heights and thus, even the Thinking Capabilities of Humans have increased(as we are not Hindered by the Lack of Advanced Technology for Discoveries-unlike the Inventors and Researchers of the Previous Era)” Also, with passing Generations, the newer Generation is the Better Version of the Previous one-thus, by bringing forth a Better Version of Humans(not only in terms of Thinking Capacity, increasing IQ of Common People)every Year.
IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE
So, apart from the above, there is one more thing that Stops and hinders Creativity and Originality which is since most of the Knowledge and things are present out there, we often think that what we will be writing, won’t make that Difference because something similar might already be present out there. And if that is not the Problem, then comes the IMPOSTER SYNDROME; something into which even I fall sometimes. Like, I do feel that why would the World Decide to read a Blog Written by an 18y/o guy who has no Degree whatsoever? Thus, the lack of a Degree(or anything that brings a sense of Credibility for the World Out there that merely Judges based on some FIXED and OLD ORTHODOX PARAMETERS)and the feeling of not being Qualified Enough, acts as a small Hindrance to sharing thoughts, and since there is nothing to share, there is not Much Appreciation, ergo, no motivation to do any work(well, I do not Belive in doing Work by driving force of Motivation to be clear)-thus, no Tinkering or Birth of anything Creative(understand this by an example-any work is done in the best way when there is an Outcome attached to the Work and Effort, and if there is no good Outcome, people seldom work hard for it. Suppose, I was to tell you to Walk to the Top of the Mountain with no given reward, you would straight away decline that thought, but if I were to just add a line- “If You did so, then you would be Rewarded XYZ from ABC”. Then this single statement, promising some Worthy Reward, would be enough to change your mind in an Instant!).
In addition to the Imposter Syndrome, there is even the CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE which in short means that, when you know how to do a Particular Thing, you fall into Oblivion thinking that it is not something great and that many others would also know that-thus, you put forth your experience and learned knowledge would not add any value to the Targeted Audience and Demographics (but we forget that this is never True-there is always something that one knows more than others, but this “Curse of Acquired Knowledge” is what hinders us from Thinking Different and Showing our Work).
CONCLUSION
We therefore, mostly PRESUME that we are THINKING, but what we do is we just try to RECOLLECT SOMETHING SIMILAR THAT WE SAW ON THE NET, OR READ SOMEWHERE rather than Thinking something new and Ingenious. But that too is not bad(honestly). We often do feel that If Something Is not Original, then it is NOT WORTH getting ACKNOWLEDGED and BEING FAMED. But here is the Truth-what makes something Stand Out and worthy of being NOTICED is not its Sheer Originality(though that is one of the Strongest Factors that might make one stand out from other Repetitive Things), but also, the way it is being presented and how it differs from its Similar Competitors. Say, when I say the word Search Engine, what is the First thing that comes to your Mind? I am pretty Sure, it is mostly Google. Google is one of the BIGGEST SEARCH ENGINES and the MOST POPULAR SEARCH ENGINE on this Planet-yet, it was not an Original Idea. The Very First Search Engine was W3Catalog, which came in 1993 and Google came 5yrs Later. Regardless of this, we all know of Google and negligibly about W3Catalog. Thus, Google had something which made it Stand Out from the Rest of its Competing Engines. This is one of the Many Examples which shows that regardless of Originality being a Factor, yet, it is NOT THE SOLE FACTOR for making something standout-sometimes, all you need is the Right Twist and Your Unique Taste to make the Conventional Stand Out!
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#The Blog was Originally Published by me on 29th May 2022 on My Website
