In this brief reading, one quote specifically stood out for me:
”Lateral thinking is generative. Vertical thinking is selective”(p.12)
I really liked this quote because I believe it perfectly encapsulates the concept of a creative process. For instance when I am choreographing a new dance recital, I start playing the song I want to dance to, and throw a series of dance moves and see what feels like the best option, I move fast, then slow, then add a jump or two, maybe even a twirl. All these moves, would come from lateral thinking, me trying to generate different ways or ideas to fill the times of the music and making it seem good. After I generate all these different dance steps and ideas, I like to turn on my vertical thinking and see how I can combine these dance moves, and turn them into a proper dance choreography. In my head, both the “rational” and “creative” are crucial for my final piece, for my final goal. Which is why, It really stood out to me what the author said in the mentioned quote. I also fully agree with him about how these two ways of thinking complement each-other and therefore, we are unable to reach our final goal, which is the project completion, without the two.
This also pulls me towards the Ted Talk we watched with kermit the frog where he used the term “Controlled Chaos”, I think that the complement between The two ways of thinking, is in a way, a controlled chaos as well.