The Art of Thought
Written by:
Graham Wallas
Presented by:
Steve Kaman
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
Four Parts of a Thought
• Preparation
• Incubation
• Illumination
• Verification
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.”
Incubation
• First part, “…we do not voluntarily or consciously
•
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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.
Illumination
• The proverbial “light bulb” or “click” as the idea
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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.”
Verification
• Period where the validity of an idea is
tested.
• The new idea is expounded upon to come
up with the final solution.
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.
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.”
Thought and Habit
• “Every one…of our mental activities in the
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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.
The Thinker at School
• Where would Plato be if he were born
today?
• (In 1926) Experimental school in New York
for “specially gifted children”
Public Education
• “One of the most difficult elements in this compromise is
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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.”
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.”
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.”
•Questions?