The Mind of a George

A caveman saw another walking up a steep incline on some round rocks, and just as his cave compadre stepped on one stone it rolled out from under him. This simultaneously elicited an uproariously hysterical laugh and helped invent the wheel at the same time. You'll get it in a minute.

What you are reading this instant is an extension of my mind. As a matter of fact, everything we see that has been created by man is an extension of the human mind. It is more than amazing to me that what is created in our brains comes from slightly less than random electro-chemical exchanges. We often use words like, "it just popped into my head" or "I just had the most curious thought". Do thoughts really just pop in to peoples heads? I have an inkling, a slight instinctual notion, this happens more often than we'd like to admit. Could it be what we call genius is nothing more than an accident of molecular biology? The greatest realizations of the human mind in all of history, however, were most likely not a matter of pure chance. That's why I used the phrase "slightly less than random" earlier. There most certainly is intention. Perhaps the one thought that spawned the rest of the invention all started out as someone's eyes snapping open at 3:57 AM, and a "Wouldn't it be great if..."

Wouldn't it be great if donuts came with jelly inside? Wouldn't it be great if the cure for malaria was found? Wouldn't it be great if I could share my thoughts with people all over the world, quickly and inexpensively? Wouldn't it be great if people asked themselves, "wouldn't it be great if..." more often.

Being able to share these thoughts with all of you (whoever you are), has helped me become a better writer, for one and for two, it's helped me learn how to better order my thoughts. I judge my own mind to be one of those odd brains that's a mix of analytical, and creative, with an ADD moderator between the two. There is a constant battle going on. The creative side is constantly coming up with ways to solve for "X", and the analytical side is tearing down the creations next door. Perhaps the best way to achieve a balance is to let them fight it out when I'm not around. For the most part that is when I'm sleeping. Some problems seem to be too big for me to solve, so I table them and let that other 90% of my brain I supposedly don't use deal with it. It reminds me of the poor cobbler who goes to sleep, and durning the night a bunch of elves show up to hammer out a couple dozen pair of shoes. What is really interesting is that those elves don't let me know when they've finished so I can sell the shoes. It is usually someone else who triggers the thought and I get hit with the "Aha!". That "aha moment" comes when suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fall in to place and a picture becomes clear. It happens when study and experiment reveals the sought after answer, and sometimes it happens just walking down the street.

Take Einstein for instance. Did he just wake up one morning or in the middle of the night and say "Mass moving at the speed of light squared is equal to energy"? I'm doubtful, but even so, I'm sure there were parts of special or general relativity were derived from sudden and unexpected realizations. And then there's the conundrum of unifying quantum physics and general relativity. He struggled with than one for many years, and never came up with the answer. Wouldn't it be great if someone could finally figure that one out. It might make teleportation like on Star Trek possible. That would be so cool. One minute you're standing looking at the inversion outside your window in Boise, Idaho and the next you're on the edge of a volcano in Costa Rica, tri-corder giving mysterious readings. See what I mean about the ADD. Anyway, my point is human brains are strange and beautiful things. The most amazing stuff comes out of them; sometimes by accident.

What is your "Wouldn't it be great if..." and what does to take to get to that "Aha"?