Where Do We Find It?

Posted on by Endless Weekend

Where do we find the light? The inspiration? That spark of genius, even if only for a fraction of a moment? In In Praise of Disorganization, Wynne and I discussed a brilliant (pun intended šŸ™ƒ) source of such wonder: the collision of different worlds! Think about it, fire materializes when 3 very different components come together: fuel, oxygen, and a spark.

In fact, some of the wonders from ancient to modern times came about as a result from one field merging with another to bring a light to where before thereā€¦ wasnā€™t. Want some examples?

The Eureka Moment

When King Hiero II of Syracuse, of the First Punic Wars fame, commissioned a golden crown, he provided the gold needed for it. But he couldnā€™t help suspecting that the goldsmith who fashioned the crown for him might have also used another metal and pocketed some of the gold for himself. This crown was an offering to a temple no less. How could the king possibly be sure that the crown offering would be made of pure gold as intended? And so the king asked Archimedes to help solve the quandary. And you probably know the way the story ends. It was a perplexing problem. Even for Archimedes.

In comes a collision of worlds: while taking a bath of all things, Archimedes noticed the water displacement caused by his body. If the crown was made of pure gold, the water displaced by the crown should be the same as the water displaced by the amount of pure gold the king originally provided. Eureka! What you may not have known is that the king was right to be suspicious. Reportedly, the smith pocketed some of the gold and substituted silver insteadā€¦ Not convincing enough? Here’s another example:

Cirque du Soleil

The circus with its displays and performances of animals and clowns and others has existed for centuries, for millennia, in different iterations. What was named The Greatest Show on Earth? The Barnum & Baily Circus! The joy of ā€œthe circus is coming to townā€ was memorialized in a song. But chances are, regardless of your age, that you havenā€™t been to the circus ā€¦ this millennium.

The theater existed for centuries, for millennia, in different iterations. And it still exists today, and itā€™s nothing to sneeze at, at almost $9b in 2013 in the US alone. And just like the circus provided one kind of entertainment, the theater provided another. Two separate worlds. Until ā€¦

By having the worlds collide, a new form of entertainment was created, Cirque du Soleil! By 2013 Cirque du Soleil alone was generating over $1b annually!

There are other examples, with entire fields like behavioral economics coming to be as a ā€œcollisionā€ of psychology and economics.

What do you think? Have you ever had inspiration strike you as a result of the merger of 2 separate fields? Do share if you have! How does the collision of worlds rate with you as a source of light or ā€œsparks of geniusā€? What is your source of light?

For more on this and other topics, visit us at The Endless Weekend.

45 thoughts on “Where Do We Find It?”

  1. Such a terrific post…making me think…just like all of your writing, EW. I love the ideas of inspiration, chemistry and all of the unexpected outcomes that arrive with blending and merging. Because I’m such an incessant foodie, I thought first about creativity in the kitchen. Some successes but oh-so many failures. šŸ¤£ No Midas gold most of the time, but epic fun in the creation. Circus-like even! Thanks for bringing the light this morning. šŸ„°

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    1. Thank you so much, Vicki, I really appreciate that šŸ„° I wasnā€™t sure about how people would exact to this take on ā€œlightā€, like some poorly executed meringues, it could have easily fallen flat šŸ¤Ŗ

      Yes, I love the food example! Fusion in food brought about such spectacularly delightful dishes! Despite the controversy around it, pineapple on a pizza (of course with olives, onions, etc.) ā€¦ šŸ¤¤

      What are your favorite fusion dishes?

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      2. Glad you liked the quip, wasnā€™t sure itā€™d be noticed or would fly. But you donā€™t miss a thing!

        Omg, have you tried pineapple and olive with caramelized onion pizza? (We actually go with several other toppings as wellā€¦) I was in the šŸ˜³ camp when I first heard of pineapple on a pizza, but was converted back as a teenager šŸ¤“ only problem is the soggyification ā€¦ So, tbh, itā€™s been 3 forevers and a day since we had pineapple on a pizza šŸ™ƒ

        Would love to hear of some of your favorite fusion dishes!

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  2. I love this post, EW. Just like Vicki said, it makes me think – which is why all of your posts are so good! But I really appreciate how you pulled in that Einstein quote which so brilliantly ties together the gold and the circus. Wow – pure genius.

    And how you talk about light being fuel, oxygen and a spark. It makes me think of the candles I light every morning when I meditate. In that case, someone figured out how to use wax and a wick to create a slow burn.

    Now you have me pondering combinations all over again. I love you for the spark you ignite, EW!

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    1. First, thank you so very much! Your comment on a previous sparked this idea in me, and I jumped on it head first, but as I was writing it, I wasnā€™t sure if it would resonate with people as much as it did with me as a way of finding the light. It just FELT like a collision of worlds can create such a bright light šŸ’”

      After our conversation yesterday, double thanks for your immensely generous words: Iā€™ll treasure them and Iā€™m both humbled and elated by them at the same time.

      Yes, there are so many deceptively ā€œsimpleā€ inventions, like the candle, that bring two opposing ideas into play! Yes to burning the wickā€¦ but slowly! That opens up a whole new set of ideas. Love it! F. Scott Fitzgerald said ā€œthe test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.ā€

      Thank YOU, Wynne, for the inspiration, the generosity, and the platform!

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    1. What a wonderfully insightful comment, thank you! (And I got Venn diagram despite your autocorrectā€™s best efforts to the contrary šŸ™ƒ). Yes! I think you landed on a very perceptive concept. Even the simplest tools and ideas we leverage daily, from the pen (wait, when was the last time we actually physically wrote something with ink šŸ˜) to writing itself has such an intricate and long history. We truly do stand on the shoulders of so many, some giants, some of average size?

      And here are three cheers to interconnecting what initially, or to most, may not seem to be related. Remember that brilliant quote ā€œThe most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not, ā€˜Eureka! Iā€™ve found it,ā€™ but, ā€˜Thatā€™s funny!ā€™ ā€œ ā€¦

      Thank you for such an inspired (and great connection-making!) comment!

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  4. Oh my- Cirque du Soleil! My first time seeing this lovely collision was in Las Vegas a billion years ago on some work related conference trip. Then again in Vegas with a Beatles theme.

    Based on actions within the US political and court systems lately and a specific event in Texas recently I have been reminded deeply of not a field merge, but a movement merge. What I know and embraced as 2nd wave feminism has become a branching tree of voices and activism not just for women but for rights and respect in general. There have been mergings based on political ideologies, sexual orientation, sacred spaces, ancient traditions, ecology, cultural beliefs and ethnicity, even the intersectionality of many of those as oppressively working together… with each new composite bringing something new to the table in terms of feminisms goals and needs.

    I think that the light that comes from the overarching theme behind feminism is the only real hope women (and our world actually) have as more and more is allowed to be taken away from us. It is the women who have to provide the spark and the genius in our world and drive the progress of answers before there is nothing left.

    I will step off of my soapbox now šŸ™‚

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    1. Itā€™s been somewhere a 3 billion years ago (or so šŸ¤Ŗ) since weā€™ve been to Vegas, tooā€¦

      Thank you for giving me a reason to look up what the different waves of feminism are, I was not aware we were in the midst of a fourth wave (though some places are starting to refer to a fifth waveā€¦). I am now a wee bit less ignorant than I was when I woke up: thank you!

      I once read that the two countries where women have achieved the most gender equality were Iceland and ā€¦ Rwanda. No, not a typo. Since then, Rwanda has remained amongst the top 10 in closing the gender gap. Itā€™s sometimes heartbreaking to learn about the different paths that can be taken to get there?

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      1. Personally, moving to Iceland seems like an excellent idea as they sit at just under 90%! There is that trade-off however in seismic/volcanic activity to consider, although living in Washington we get our fair share of natural events šŸ™‚

        Honestly I tend not to look at defined waves of feminism, but at all of the newly defined groups in society that embrace feminisms general ideals while applying the same to their own lived experience. Eco-feminism, Black feminism, and while I don’t know a specific moniker- the intersection of feminism and the LGTBQIA community. Historically Feminist Theory is the backbone of any/all feminist movements and ideology but each generation, culture, defined social group has made the basic ideals their own so I see feminism as a living, growing entity.

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  5. As Vicki and Wynne mention, your posts are always so thought-provoking and it’s great! I recall one such moment my junior year of university…. I don’t recall what the stroke of genius was, but after that day’s courses–neuropsychology, anthropology and calculus–paired with the discussion with an engineering student with a solar oven on the mall. I ended sitting on the edge of a planter and jotting down page after page on the interconnectedness of all things. It was the most exhilarating and enlightening experience, so I’m surprised I don’t remember. I fully believe that the merging of two disparate fields or ideas is the perfect breeding ground for new ideas because people get so locked into their niche that very few people are exploring the overlap between, say, anthropology, aerodynamics, and historical costuming. It’s probably frivolous and fruitless, but every now and again the novelty may lead to new insight. For that reason, I try to follow my curiosity and explore various topics of interest. Not to win some prize, but for the excitement of stumbling across an idea that may never have been thought before.

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    1. First things first: THANK YOU (caps intentional) big-hearted and uplifting words.

      I love that you follow your curiosity, especially for its own sake! There was a big prize for the people who could show the first flight, and a lot of folks approached the challenge for the money only, but those who were (also) driven by curiosity seemed to have won the day?

      I wish I could have read your interconnected pages! You remember what Einstein said about ā€œI am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.ā€ Three cheers for curiosity!

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    1. Thank you, Gerald, for your kind and thoughtful words! (Yes, Iā€™m taking them at face valueā€¦)

      Two questions to you, if I may: how did you know it was me (it was) and not my husband who wrote this entry? And in your experience, can those collisions of worlds end up in inspired eureka moments?

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      1. I have no psychic qualities. I also took you at face value. Collisions are complicated. I imagine they are more plentiful than inspired because we only hear of the eureka moments. We treat them as remarkable because they are rare.

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      2. Your two unconnected answers (no psychic capabilities, and the eureka moments over the generations) have gotten me thinking (and grinning) about the predictions different generations have had about what life would look like in the future. As a species we clearly donā€™t have psychic capabilities, and certainly no power to divine the futureā€¦

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    2. What a terrific example! Itā€™s such a great example given how cooking almost always conjures the image of heat, of fire rather than of cooling, of ice!

      I didnā€™t get a chance to experience it first hand, have you? The closest I think I came to it was shipping if delectables in dry ice, but itā€™s a far cry from liquid nitrogen.

      Fantastic example, thank you!

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  9. All I could think of as I read this post was the old ad for Reeseā€™s peanut butter cups. ā€œHey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter. Yeah, you got peanut butter in my chocolate.ā€ Itā€™s true that inspiration can strike anywhere at any time. We just need to open our eyes to it.

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    1. Yum, yum, yum! šŸ¤¤ Have you ever tried mixing in peanut butter in your chocolate ice cream?

      Speaking of, did you know how Reeceā€™s Pieces ended up in ET? Steven Spielberg originally had M&Ms in the script, but their parent company, Mars, insisted on seeing the script before agreeing to it. And yet, it was critical for the successful launch of the movie to keep the script under wrapsā€¦ So Spielberg ended up changing the script to Reeceā€™s Pieces šŸ™ƒ

      And, yes, wise words indeed: we need to keep our eyes and our minds open to it!

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      2. Local ice cream makers tend to offer some truly delightful options! I like ā€œsurprisesā€ in my ice cream, a chocolate chip, a berry, a nut (btw, make all that pluralā€¦ šŸ˜), so adding things to the ā€œbaseā€ ice cream (we make ours at home! Long live the Vitamix šŸ¤©) creates those marvelous ā€œsurprisesā€ in almost every bite!

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