Turning Points

The Nature of Creativity

verfasst von: Dr. Chaomei Chen

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Über dieses Buch

"Turning Points: The Nature of Creativity" discusses theories and methods focusing on a critical concept of intellectual turning points in the context of critical thinking, scientific discovery, and problem solving in general. This book introduces a novel analytical and experimental system that provides not only new ways for retrospective studies of scientific change but also for characterizing transformative potentials of prospective scientific contributions.
The book is intended for scientists and researchers in the fields of information science and computer science.
Dr. Chaomei Chen is an Associate Professor at the College of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University, USA.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. The Gathering Storm

Abstract

There are two ways to boil a frog alive. One is to boil the water first and then drop the frog into boiling water — the frog will jump out from the immediate crisis. The other is to put the frog in cold water and then gradually heat the water until it boils — the frog will not realize that it is now in a creeping crisis. As far as the frog is concerned, the creeping crisis is even more dangerous because the frog loses its chance to make a move that could save its life.

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 2. Creative Thinking

Abstract

What do we know about creativity? Where do insightful and enlightening moments come from? Are there such things as strategies and generic mechanisms for creative thinking and problem solving?

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 3. Cognitive Biases and Pitfalls

Abstract

Finding needles in a haystack is challenging because the haystack provides no clue at all about the needles. The Chinese culture describes such daunting situations with a similar metaphor but on a larger scale: finding a needle in an ocean!

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 4. Recognizing the Potential of Research

Abstract

Basic research often does not have an earlier sign of whether and how it might be practically valuable. Research has found a recurring pattern that many scientific breakthroughs emerge as multiple lines of research converge. The question is: Is it possible to recognize a fruitful path ahead of time? In this chapter we discuss lessons learned from studies of both hindsight and foresight of identifying and recognizing the most important discoveries and innovations.

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 5. Foraging

Abstract

Creative thinking in a broad range of scientific discoveries is similar to food foraging. A food forager uses creative processes when finding the next patch of food. Decisions made for optimal foraging need to take into account the uncertainties and risks of the investment of time, energy, and other resources and the expected gains. If foragers have a vast number of alternatives to consider but only a tiny chance of finding anything useful, then the foragers are alert to scents, signs, and other types of cues to avoid an unproductive search. A scientist, as a forager and creator of new knowledge, faces similar challenges of finding patches of ideas, theories, and evidence in scientific inquires. Since scientific breakthroughs, or transformative discoveries, are truly novel in creating a new way of thinking, these involve the identification of patches of knowledge that are often either remote from the state of the art or non-existent. Notable examples of this include searching for earth-like planets in the Universe, searching for satisfactory compounds in chemical space for drug discovery, or searching for new ideas that may revolutionize a field or lead to the birth of a new field.

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 6. Knowledge Domain Analysis

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with quantitative approaches to the study of emerging trends and changes in science. A key insight is that a domain of knowledge is determined by the perspective we choose to take. This view echoes what we have seen earlier in Chapter 3 about the role of mental models in developing our understanding of the world. We first introduce the principles of progressive knowledge domain analysis. In the second part of the chapter, we describe a new approach called multiple-perspective co-citation analysis. It is designed to shift the traditional focus from the references to papers that have been influenced by such references.

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 7. Messages in Text

Abstract

Text is critical in our communication. An overwhelmingly portion of the text we deal with everyday is unstructured: key terms in text are usually not marked as such explicitly and essential claims in text documents are usually not highlighted by colorful inks. Human readers are capable of identifying and discerning implicit messages from text expressed in their natural languages. However, human readers’ ability is limited when facing hundreds, thousands, and even more such identification and differentiation tasks. Many real-life situations require a timely understanding of a pile of text or a swift analysis of multiple sources of text. For example, funding agencies need to deal with increasing numbers of proposals; scientists need to keep abreast of many seemingly relevant new publications to their research all the time; and historians need to sift through mountains of archival documents.

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 8. Transformative Potential

Abstract

Identifying and supporting high-risk and high pay-off research has been one of the major concerns of science policy as well as individual scientists and their institutions. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has been concerned about identifying and funding transformative research for decades. The U.S. is not the only country that is experiencing the sense of urgency like the Gathering Storm we discussed at the beginning of the book. Research Councils UK (RCUK) considers high potential, high impact research as adventurous, speculative, innovative, exciting, creative, radical, groundbreaking, precedence setting, unconventional, visionary, challenging, ambitious, uncertain, mould-breaking or revolutionary (RCUK 2006). The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) defined the concept of risk based on unconventionality and an uncertainty of results (NSERC 2003).

Chaomei Chen

Chapter 9. The Way Ahead

Abstract

In this final chapter, we first summarize the key points in the previous chapters and how they are connected or may influence each other. Then we identify a few theoretical and practical issues that need to be dealt with in future studies and applications.

Chaomei Chen

Backmatter

Titel: Turning Points
verfasst von: Dr. Chaomei Chen
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-642-19160-2
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-19159-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19160-2