Friday, August 5, 2016

Dreaming the Solution

     Have you ever dreamt the answer to a problematic issue before? If not, you must be shocked to hear that people have had epiphanies in their dreams! Many people already know that the human mind continues to conjure thoughts while a person is asleep. In Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson adds onto this by including the bizarre epiphany that Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz received in a daydream. Apparently, Kekule "had a daydream by a crackling fire in which he saw a vision of Ouroboros, the serpent from Greek mythology that devours its own tail." (Johnson 103) This serpent's image connected with Kekule's slow hunch about the molecular structure of the hydrocarbon benzene, which later became the basis of rings, and chains formed by carbon. It amazes me how someone can find the solution to a problem in their dream, and reach serendipity. Serendipity is an accidental discovery that completes a hunch, or a problem. A random dream might solve an issue, and become a happy realization. Serendipity is responsible for all the good ideas that occurred as a strange coincidence. It's only one way to discover a plausible idea, and is the most unusual to me by far. Although odd, serendipity is most definitely an interesting way to discover a good idea.

2 comments:

  1. I can agree with Anajulisa in the fact that I to am dumbfounded that innovative ideas to solve problems can often come to us in dreams. I am also reading Where Good Ideas Come From and I am really enjoying it so far. I remember when I was younger I always wanted to invent something and become an innovator that would benefit someone or the world. I think it is great when kids have bright ideas because they will eventually solve many problems in our world today. In the movie Big Hero Six, a movie made by Disney, is about a robot who is designed for being a health care companion that would help many people. I think this is such a great movie and I really think that Disney knows what their doing because it also is spreading awareness for kids to use their own creative ideas to create something that will be very valuable in the future. Kids are the future and I can definitely agree with Anajulisa in the fact that serendipity is a very fascinating way to experience a feeling of discovery.

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  2. I really love this part of the book, don't you?

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