How To Use Bisociation To Enable Creativity
It’s New Year’s Eve.
Okay, it was New Year’s Eve. And a veteran friend told me a joke.
Don’t forget to poop before this New Year. You don’t want to be carrying the same shit into 2025.
Cue the collective groan and reluctant chuckle. It’s terrible, but somehow, it works. In fact, it always works. Now, credit where credit is due, he did borrow the joke from Vet TV.
That’s the really annoying part, is that it works. We understand it. And you don’t even have to a veteran to understand where that humour lies.
That’s because some jokes rely on a little trick called bisociation. It focuses on connecting two completely unrelated ideas to create something that surprises yet relatable to you.
Arthur Koestler, who coined the term, might not have had toilet humour in mind. Bisociation is about taking two separate ideas and making them work together to create something new. And perhaps unexpected. It’s the same principle that makes you laugh at bad jokes, marvel at great art, or even have those “aha!” moments in your own life.
But why does this odd pairing of ideas work so well? And how can it spark creativity beyond the cringe inducing of terrible jokes?
Arthur Koestler Thought Of It
Arthur Koestler was the one who first proposed the idea of bisociation. He was a philosopher and writer who was well-known for his observations on art, science, and the peculiarities of human creation. In his 1964 book The Act of Creation, Koestler explored what happens when people make creative breakthroughs.
He asserts that creativity is not something that just happens. Rather, it emerges from the collision of two disparate concepts or organized modes of thought.
Think of these matrices as distinct knowledge islands. Physics, with its many equations and natural laws, could be one example. The other may be art, a realm of feelings and aesthetics. They appear to be unconnected on their own. However, a completely different viewpoint appears when someone creates a bridge between them.
That’s bisociation.
It’s critical to recognize the issue facing the man who came up with the idea of bisociation before delving more into it. Numerous philosophers have been influenced by Koestler’s contributions to philosophy, science, and creativity, yet his personal life is complicated. No one should ignore accounts of his challenging temperament and allegations of sexual misbehavior.
While his personal actions cannot and should not be ignored, this article is not here to litigate his character. Instead, my focus is on the concept of creativity itself. I want to explore how ideas collide and surprise us with something entirely new.
How Does Bisociation Help Creativity?
“Why didn’t I think of that” is a question worth reverse engineering.
When we encounter a brilliant idea, it often feels obvious in hindsight. But that spark of genius rarely comes from following a straight path. Instead, it emerges from unexpected intersections. It often comes from places where different fields, perspectives, or ways of thinking.
By bridging unrelated ideas, bisociation works to create something genuinely novel.
Or at least a remix that feels fresh.
So, how does it work? Let’s break it down into four key ways bisociation fuels creativity.
Firstly, Break Habitual Thinking
Most people approach problems the way they always have. But using the same tools and same frameworks will give you the same outcomes. Now that can be one’s intended outcome, but sometimes you want something entirely new! Bisociation disrupts this cycle by inviting ideas from entirely different domains to the table.
We’re creatures of habit. The same routines, the same thought patterns — they’re efficient but rarely groundbreaking. Bisociation shoves us out of those mental ruts.
How to do it:
- Change your inputs: If you always read business books, try a graphic novel or a physics podcast. Exposing yourself to unrelated ideas feeds the kind of mental collisions that spark creativity.
- Ask the absurd: Deliberately ask questions that seem ridiculous. For example, “What would my project look like if it were a video game?” or “How would a chef solve this?”
- Flip the problem: Write down your challenge, then reverse the question. If you’re trying to gain customers, ask, “How could I lose as many customers as possible?” The answers often illuminate blind spots or spark new ideas.
Secondly, Generate Novelty
Creativity isn’t about pulling ideas out of thin air. It’s about combining existing concepts in ways no one else has thought to. Bisociation makes this possible by encouraging unexpected pairings.
How to do it:
- Learn from other fields: Identify a profession or industry far from your own. Remember, not your own. Research how they solve problems, and see if you can adapt their methods to your work. For instance, software developers might learn project management tricks from how movies are produced.
- Keep an “Idea Scrapbook”: Start jotting down ideas from different parts of your life. These include things you read, overheard, or wondered about. When faced with a problem, sift through these scraps for unexpected pairings.
- Use analogies: Pick an object or system you admire (a tree, a symphony, a city’s traffic flow) and brainstorm how its principles could apply to your current challenge.
Thirdly, Resolve Contradictions
Creativity often arises from solving the seemingly unsolvable. Bisociation lets us reframe contradictions as opportunities for innovation. This must come from a want to solve the unsolvable.
How to do it:
- Define the tension: Write down the two ideas or perspectives that seem at odds. Be specific about why they conflict.
- Reframe the contradiction: Instead of asking “How do I solve this conflict?” ask, “How can these two things coexist?” This opens up new possibilities.
- Prototype hybrid solutions: Even if your ideas seem incompatible, build a rough prototype of what a merger might look like. The act of creating often reveals hidden connections.
Lastly, Be Cognitiviely Flexible
Creativity isn’t about working harder, as it’s about thinking differently. Bisociation is mental agility that forces us to think with different perspectives. People can only do this if and when they are flexible.
How to do it:
- Practice “What if?” scenarios: Regularly challenge yourself to imagine different outcomes or approaches. For example, “What if we doubled our budget?” or “What if I had to finish this project in a week?”
- Engage in creative play: Solve puzzles, doodle, or play with tools that force you to think in unconventional ways. These activities keep your brain limber.
- Collaborate with diverse teams: The more varied the perspectives in the room, the more connections your brain will make. Seek out people who don’t think like you.
Creativity Is Messy, And That’s Bisociation’s Point
More often than not, I challenge the notion that creativity is a lightening in a jar. Now that can be true, but we also created lighting rods. By bridging unrelated ideas, you’re not just waiting for inspiration to strike; you’re letting the odds be in your favor.
The beauty of bisociation is that it thrives on the unexpected. It’s the weird thought experiments, the seemingly dumb questions, and the moments when you allow yourself to think, What if? It’s about smashing ideas together, not knowing whether you’ll get a masterpiece or a mess and being okay with both.
Creativity is within reach for anyone willing to mix things up. All it takes is those four steps.
So, next time you find yourself stuck, try this: mash two completely unrelated things together — your work problem and, I don’t know, the plot of Shrek. It won’t be pretty, but it might just give you an idea worth running with.
Creativity is messy, and that’s the point.
Would you consider a follow?
https://asymmetriccreativity.medium.com/
