Thinking about Thinking
In the last art class, we were given a thinking task to do in class. One thing would be said and we had to write or draw what came to our mind. We also had to express how it came to our mind whether it just popped up or a flash-back. But before we got started we watched a video of THE 4 STEPS TO GETTING AN IDEA by Kirby Ferguson: http://everythingisaremix.info.
This video shows 4 simple steps of getting an idea. The first step was that there needs to be boundaries set for what you want to know; nothing too simple nor to broad. You need to choose something that will interest your so that you are motivated. The second step is to then learn everything about the topic that was chosen. You can do this by watching movies, talking to people, reading books, listening to music, try products and do the research. The third step is to digest the material. To do this you need to study the materials, organize them, try to group things together, make a mind map, arrange them into a narrative of what you have learnt. With the last step its a bit different from the three steps because you need to 'drop it.' You can just forget about it and go and do something else. In a while the idea will then pop up so you need to be prepare. I think his idea does not really work for me in some ways because the way my mind works is that sometimes when something simple is mention like' what is the first animal that pops up to your head right now?' I would be able to just get the idea straight away. This is because I find it's a simple question, so am able to think fast without having to have a really deep thought about it. But an example like this ' if you had a mysterious creature living in your school, what would it look like?' This is harder for me because I haven't really thought about it, so something that is unfamiliar to me takes me a longer time to think. What I don't like about the step was step 4, to drop it, I don't think it will really do me anything if I just drop the idea after researching about it. I will continue to think as I am researching because while I'm researching that's when all my ideas really come. So if I just suddenly stop it will disappear straight away.
I do not think that my ideas just pop up right away, I need time to think about it. Depending on the topic sometimes the idea just pops up or sometimes it's very blurry and really not fully formed. It is not like magic where someone says something and 'boom' I have an idea from my subconscious mind. I think this may be because at this age I haven't really had much experiences of having to think really hard about something. So I am not used to it. In class we would always be given directions of how to do work so we just need to follow it, simple as that. The thinking part doesn't matter because we are given a guideline. But if we had to come up with ideas by ourselves then its different because we have to think about it. Therefore we need an inspiration. Inspiration of someone else's work or what other people have said. Then I will then think about that 'my way.' I come up with a few and make a mind map. I try to think of 2-3 ideas and not more than that so it is easier for me. I make those ideas more detailed and normally then one that has the most detailed I would choose that and develop the idea even further.
In conclusion, I think that thinking can be a very hard thing to do and sometimes it is easy. I think that it really depends on the topic and how much you know about it. If you are familiar to the topic then the ideas are bound to develop faster; this may be because you can relate to it or you have seen movies, read books or even researched about it. But for unfamiliar topic it is totally different. Your subconscious mind doesn't really know what to think due to lack of knowledge about it. For this situation you have to follow the first three steps of what Kirby Ferguson says. But then continue to work and develop the idea even further more instead of dropping it.