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Passages Of The Day |
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| Random word stimulation |
This is a practical and definite procedure in which the true random nature of the input is beyond doubt. If one is a purist one can use a table of random numbers to select a page in a dictionary. The number of a word on that page (counting down the page) can also be obtained from the table of random numbers. With less trouble one can simply think of two numbers and find the word that way. Or throw some dice. What one must not do is to open a dictionary and go through the pages until one finds a likely looking word. That would be selection and it would be useless from a random stimulation point of view.
The numbers 473 13 were given by a table of random numbers using the Penguin English Dictionary the word located was: noose. The problem under consideration was the housing shortage. Over a timed three minute period the following ideas were generated.
Noose tightening noose execution what are the difficulties in executing a housing programme what is the bottleneck, is it the capital, labour or land?
Noose tightens things are going to get worse with the present rate of population increase.
Noose rope suspension construction system tent like houses but made of permanent materials easily packed and erected or on a large scale with several houses suspended from one framework much lighter materials possible if walls did not have to support themselves and the roof.
Noose loop adjustable loop what about adjustable round houses which could be expanded as required just uncoil the walls no point in having houses too large to begin with because of heating problems, extra attention to walls and ceilings, furniture etc but facility for slow stepwise expansion as need arises.
Noose snare capture capture a share of the labour market capture people captured by home ownership due to difficulty in selling and complications lack of mobility houses as exchangeable units classified into types direct exchange of one type for similar type or put one type into the pool and take out a similar type elsewhere.
Some of the above ideas may be useful, others may not. All of them could have been arrived at by straightforward vertical thinking but that does not mean that they would have been arrived at this way. As discussed before if an idea is tenable at all then it must be possible in hindsight to see how it could have been arrived at by logical means but this does not mean that it would have been arrived at in this way. Sometimes the link to the random word may be effected after the idea has come to mind rather than the random word stimulating the idea. Nevertheless the use of the random word has stimulated a large number of different ideas in a short period of time. |
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Passage taken from: Lateral thinking, Creativity step by step, by Edward de Bono, ISBN 06-090325-2 Copyright © 1970 by Edward de Bono
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