Divergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is associated with the creative process and innovation, but this does not mean that the thinking itself leads to something creative or innovative; rather, it is a fundamental aspect of the creative process.
The creative process is the ability to find multiple possible solutions to a given problem—to find several possible answers rather than just one accepted one.
This type of thinking involves grasping the nature of the problem itself—understanding where it lies—and having the flexibility to reframe the problem, as well as presenting solutions metaphorically, through more visual thinking, or even by establishing connections between concepts, solutions, and characteristics from various fields.
It is not merely linear thinking—which connects point A to point B—that is sought; rather, it very often involves a true reshaping of the question itself, leading to the emergence of new lines of thought, new approaches, and new horizons—all of which may or may not be interconnected, or may lead to a new idea or a new line of thought that had not previously been considered.
In divergent thinking, nothing is taken for granted. Not even the initial question or problem—or the one that led to the impasse.
This type of thinking isn’t something we usually keep in mind, much less apply to our reality. In fact, this type of thinking is often associated with people who have a worldview considered to be genius.
Producers, advertisers, and even inventors take a problem, idea, or concept and remix it with other concepts, coming up with new suggestions—some of which lead to new starting points.
Divergent thinkers, who possess a level of genius in this area, can come up with more than 200 possible answers for, say, the use of an everyday object, such as a paper clip. Meanwhile, the general population can only come up with 10 to 20 different possible uses. There is a clear difference in the number of answers generated, and many of these are only possible when the imagination goes beyond the question itself.
In a recent study, a specific group of children aged 3 to 5—preschool-aged children—underwent an assessment to validate and measure their abilities as divergent thinkers. And remarkably, of the 1,500 children studied, about 98% of them exhibited genius-level divergent thinking!
We can therefore conclude from this study that our capacity for divergent thinking is something that is almost innate, and that it has nothing to do with our learning or with our interaction with and understanding of cognitive processes.
We must recognize children as a source of inspiration and innovation for the problems we need to solve, and not allow ourselves to become hostage to Artificial Intelligence alone, as if it were the only possible resource and the sole hope for a better life.
Let us place more trust in children, for in them lies the true future and hope of humanity. Not letting them lead us is an act of madness—and one that spells the end of our very existence.
Image by Jupi Lu from Pixabay
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