Philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn , author of the landmark book The Structure of Scientific Revolution , relates an experience remarkably like the one just mentioned . While reading Aristotle ’ s work on physics , Kuhn was surprised that Aristotle ’ s work , the foundation for our understanding of the universe , seemed riddled with logical errors . Wondering how to reconcile these ideas , Kuhn says :
I continued to puzzle over the text ... I was sitting at my desk with the text of Aristotle ’ s Physics open in front of me and with a four-colored pencil in my hand . Looking up , I gazed abstractedly out the window of my room — the visual image is one I still retain . Suddenly the fragments in my head sorted themselves out in a new way , and fell into place together .
“ The fragments in my head sorted themselves out in a new way ”— what a powerful picture of how our minds can help us reformulate our thoughts .
Kuhn possessed the same old concepts , but his subconscious recombined them in new ways . His brain was making new connections , even when it appeared to be doing nothing . That resulted in an aha moment in which the solution seemed to appear out of nowhere . In fact , the brain had been laying the groundwork for that insight for some time .
When we imagine or reimagine a story , we ’ re not creating something entirely new . We ’ re mostly finding new relationships between the concepts and contexts we already possess . Neuroscientist Gyorgy Buzsaki says that when we face something new , the brain will try to match it to existing neural pathways — thoughts or stories . If needed , it will add to or delete connections from the existing structure to make sense of the situation . “ New ideas , solutions , and art forms are not created in a vacuum ,” confirms Elkhonon Goldberg . “ To a very large extent , they arise as novel configurations of the elements of previously formed ideas , solutions , and forms .”
... every idea is formed by a particular assembly of neurons in your brain . Each one takes a specific configuration or shape . Thinking new thoughts involves rearranging the connections or making new ones . You arrive at new thoughts by making novel connections between the ideas and experiences you already have .
When actively solving problems , we rely heavily on the brain ’ s prefrontal cortex . This is the part we use for conscious thought , and it excels at this reassembly process . It likes to recombine bits of information to create something new , sort of like building an airplane from the LEGO blocks that used to be a house .
But there ’ s more to your brain , much more . And your brain can engage in this sorting process whether you ’ re thinking about it or not . To move beyond your default ways of thinking , especially when you are stuck on a problem , you ’ ll need to enlist the vast
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