We all believe that Einstein was talented.
He wasn’t.
He just hit his forehead a lot.
The Slap On The Forehead: What does it mean?
Einstein wasn’t talented. He developed pattern recognition. He worked out a pattern.
Once you see the clarity of the pattern, it’s like night and day. You’re not bumbling around in the dark. Suddenly everything seems easy. In fact, you wonder why everyone else doesn’t see it the same way. Why are they bumbling in the dark, you wonder.
Every ‘talented’ person has had this ‘aha-moment’ several times in their life. They are doing something—often something disconnected to their ability—and then it hits them. The pattern becomes super-clear.
And they hit their forehead.
That hitting of forehead is a moment when the brain recognises a pattern that others have failed to see. Any ‘talented’ person will tell you that the pattern has existed forever. And that they’ve just failed to see it. Of course, so have the others around them.
Because the ‘talented’ person is the first to see the pattern in this specific way, they are called ‘talented.’ But truly talented people know and recognise the forehead moment. They know it’s the moment that they finally recognise a new direction. Or to put it another way, another pattern.
You can do this while driving a car
Let’s say we wanted to go from my house to the city in peak traffic. No matter how bad the weather, I can get you to the city from my house about 40 cars ahead of anyone who sets out at the same time, from the same destination. It doesn’t mean that I’m talented at driving. It means that I’ve recognised a pattern.
I’ve worked out exactly the spots you need to change lanes. Yes, the exact spots. Changing lanes at those specific spots will get you about 40 cars ahead. Which is handy, when you’re in a hurry. But you know what? How do you get 600 cars ahead?
It’s called ‘taking the bus’.
The bus has its own freeway unhindered by traffic. It can get you to the city 600 cars ahead.
Now you don’t see that as a talent, do you? But it is? It’s the ability of the brain to recognise a pattern.
Pattern 1: Do what you’ve always done.
Pattern 2: Change lanes at specific points and get 40 cars ahead, every single time.
Pattern 3: Get on the bus, and get 600 cars ahead. Every single time.
This pattern recognition is what we call the forehead moment.
That duh sound you hear, is the new direction unfolding.
Once you work out the new direction, nothing is the same.
And other car drivers either follow you (like they did with Einstein)
Or they take the bus.
Or they call you talented, and do what they’ve always done 😉
And just for the record: Even in the dark of your room, you recognise patterns. Put a stranger in your bedroom, and turn off the lights.
Then listen for the cursing. 🙂
You on the other hand have little or no problem in your bedroom. And there’s a reason why. Until of course, I move around the furniture.
Then the cursing resumes! 😉
My favorite definition of creativity (and I wish I knew who to attribute it to) is this:
“Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity.”
I’ve always liked that definition because it’s the best description of the “Aha” moment I know.
When you get “the answer” it seems so obvious afterwards.
Of course, a lot leads up to that “Aha!” moment happening and I think you’re onto something when you attribute it to pattern recognition.
This is why the “expert” runs can run circles around the beginner in analysis (sometimes.) He or she has seen the same patterns over and over again
and the dynamics of the situation is “obvious.”
A “newbie” on the other hand is at sea. No catalog of patterns to compare the present reality to, no short cuts, painstaking sorting it instead.
Now, there is the issue of speed and cognition.
The painstaking approach does not mean a better result. In pattern recognition, slow and steady does not win the race. In fact, it can create the blind man and elephant phenomenon. You “see” all the individual parts, but fail to realize the pattern.
So “newbies” (and their mentors) need to have patience until the inventory of useful patterns builds up.
Come to think of it, focusing on essential patterns and conveying them to “newbies” might be the most important thing a teacher can do, far more important than conveying technical knowledge.
This may be why so many graduates of the System Seminar go on to be successful while few other Internet education systems can point to many (or any) success stories.
I’ve always focused on the patters: (traffic + conversion = profits) as one example. I’ve got some others that I should release too. Your article has inspired me.
Now, there’s another issue which is the “newbie” who comes along and sees what the experts cannot because their inventory of patterns – useful as it is – blinds them.
So, beyond pattern recognition as a learning tool, there’s the issue of learning to recognize and uncover patterns without anyone explicitly teaching you them. That’s probably the most important skill there is.
How does one teach it? To alert people to the fact that the skill exists and is important and why it’s important?
It reminds me the of the process of learning to create solos in jazz performance. By definition, no one can teach you how to solo, but an environment can be created where soloing is expected and is the norm and people who apply themselves “get” it eventually.
By example?