Creativity is Unlimited Use of Knowledge

Christian Byrge & Sren Hansen, Creativity lab, Aalborg University

Introduction
Professions and educations need a new discipline called Creativity. We need
creativity when we want to create something. Creating should be understood in
relation to managing. To manage everyday life, work or school the human brain
builds patterns (De Bono, Kvantefysikken - mnsterteorien). Patterns are essential for
us to cope with everyday situations. Patterns help us save energy and time and to keep
informed about our surroundings with a minimum of effort. BUT there is a backside
to it. Patterns also control our perception and thinking, which makes it difficult to
perceive information in new ways, to conceptualize different and to think and do
different in a given situation. To get new perspectives or new solutions we need
creativity, which means to cut across the (artificial) boundaries in our pattern
organizing brain and body. Subjects and professions are results of structuring patterns.
Creativity is to ignore these patterns and to cut across the boundaries between them.

In this paper creativity is defined as the unlimited use of knowledge in thinking and
doing. Knowledge includes information, expertise, know-how or whatever sources
our thoughts or action might have.

When we think or do something, we use

knowledge. If we want to do something new, we need ideas about what and how to do
it. Ideas are building stones of knowledge, which can be played with in a creative
process that continues until the desired solution is obvious. Creativity is to play with
knowledge in the seeking for other possibilities than we already are aware of.
Creativity is defined as unlimited use of knowledge. This definition implies that
creativity is the mean to cut across the limiting boundaries of subjects, professions,
scientific

or

not

scientific

knowledge,

true

or

lie,

understandings

or

misunderstandings. Creativity is the only thinking that uses and combines all the
(diverse) knowledge available to ex. a problem solving team. Creativity is the
discipline of applying knowledge across all professional, social and cultural
boundaries,

In this paper it is argued that creativity as unlimited use of knowledge is a discipline

in itself that must be taught and learned as well as all the knowledge and routines our
pattern behaviour have structured into subjects, disciplines and professions. Creativity
is the discipline of using knowledge free of the artificial structures that was put there
as a result of one way of understanding reality.

Thinking across disciplines, cultures, fields and

At first sight it can seem like the different definitions of creativity are fluffy and
diversified depending on the scientific perspective that is taken. However, if we look
at those who focus on the development of ideas there seems to be an overall common
understanding of creativity. Creativity cuts across normal limitations in our base of
knowledge, as it will be shown in the following of this paper. Human beings have
limiting boundaries between certain fields of knowledge like the boundary around
specific disciplines, a cultures, a domains etc. The boundary makes sure that you can
play a match of squash, being sure that both players play by the same rules. The
players would normally not cuts across the discipline of squash into the discipline of
for example American football by catching the ball, run to the end wall and make a
touch down. This would simply be confusing for the other player. Therefore these
boundaries are essential to the operation of most of the everyday tasks that are to be
performed. In order to develop a new sport or radically change squash as a sport, we
need to cut across these boundaries; however, we also have limiting boundaries in the
usability of this knowledge around a discipline, a culture, a domain etc. Examples of
methods that limit our use of knowledge is the analytical approach as well as a
discussion, where the line of argument often is based on one field of knowledge or
one perspective. The problem about discussions is that only the use of certain kind of
(approved) knowledge is aloud. In a scientific discussion there are very strict rules
about what knowledge to accept and how to use it. The same is true for everyday
discussions ex. at a local pub. New knowledge is banded in discussions because it
does not fit the dominating patterns of thinking or doing. The same goes for the
positioning of ideas. This paper defines creativity as cutting across these limits, in
order to use knowledge from any field for a specific problem. Defining creativity as
Unlimited Use of Knowledge implies that knowledge is treated without hierarchies
that control what is true or false and open-mindedness to other perspectives.

Several researches have been conducted attempting to understand the development of

an idea. In 1952 Roe argued that a creative person has the capacity to generate
unusual associations.i This means that he can see connections between elements,
disciplines, products etc, which is not obvious to other people.ii These connections
can eventually turn out as ideas for new products, new understanding etc.
Maier find that creativity is to use a well-known object in an unusual way.iii Maier
& Roe finds creativity to cut across obvious patterns to find new ones. Consider the
example from 1878 of the development of the idea for the Tarnier-Martin couveuse
by Stephanie Tarnier.iv When he saw an incubator for babybirds, in a French Zoo,
he found an association to babyhumans, thus getting the idea for his couveuse. This
association is to use knowledge from the field of Zoology in order to solve a problem
in the field of medicine. Without unlimited use of knowledge, these two fields would
have been separated and the use of knowledge for developing an incubator would
have been limited to the field of Zoology, which eventually would not have had a
result like the couveuse. Roes and Maiers understanding are very much in line with
the unlimited use of knowledge across known patterns.

Barron, Guilford and Simonton find that creative people have an interest in fields
different from their own.v, vi, vii Having an interest in a field different from ones own
automatically gives knowledge about this second field. Understanding two (or more)
fields increases the chance of being able to use knowledge from the one field to solve
problems in the other field. In other words: you need knowledge from different fields
in order to combine knowledge. Guildford continues this line in his assessment of
creative ability through a number of variables. One of these variables is the ability to
produce different types of ideas.viii Different kinds of ideas are based on different
kinds of knowledge; eventually this gives a need for having a pool of different
fields of knowledge. If you need a variety of ideas, you will need a variety of
knowledge to develop these ideas from. Hausman even goes a bit further arguing that
to be truly creative, there must be an element of radical newnessix. How do you turn
knowledge into different and radical new ideas?
In 1903 Henry Ford set off with his production of the Ford automobiles.x Ford was
persistent to produce radical cheaper cars than his competitors. How do you do that?
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If he had used knowledge from the automobile industry he would not be able to
become better than the competitor only by running faster or having lower salaries.
However, one day Ford investigated a Connecticut clock manufacturer and saw how
they produced their watches on moving industrial production lines.xi Eventually he
got the idea of producing automobiles in a similar way, with the result of dropping the
cost of producing a car to of competitor, thus making him a world leader in
automobile production with his assembly line. The knowledge for this idea involving
radical newness came from another field of knowledge than automobile production the Swiss watch industry. Different and radical new ideas appear when a field is
injected with knowledge from another field. Guilfords, Simontons, Hausmans and
Barrons understandings are very much in line with the unlimited use of knowledge.

Johansson recently made a worldwide study of how world-changing ideas have been
developed by their idea-developers. He finds that it happens at the intersection of
knowledge from all disciplines, all cultures and all domains. Creativity occurs when
the barriers between the disciplines, cultures and domains are removed. Johansson
defines the intersection as the place where it is possible to use knowledge from one
discipline, culture or domain to develop ideas for problems related to another
discipline, culture or domain. He finds that only in the intersection will true new
arise.xii
Dawkins explain creativity as the imitation of one meme by another meme.xiii He
defines memes as: ...tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashion, ways of making
pots or of building arches.xiv In his understanding of memes in relation to creativity,
Dawkins, focuses on the imitation from one meme to another e.g. by imitating a way
of making pots in order to build arches in a new way. This is again to break down
the standard limitations that exist between memes.

Mick Pearce tore down these barriers in 1996 in his designing of Eastgate in
Zimbabwe. He used the meme of how termites cool down their towerlike mounds of
mud and dirt as an alternative solution to air-conditioning. By doing so, Eastgate,
spends 90 % less energy to keep cool, compared to other similar buildings.xv Again,
the unlimited use of knowledge across disciplines, cultures, domains and memes is at
the core of Dawkins and Johanssons theories.
4

Dietrich argues that creative thinking involves the ability to break conventional rules
of thinking.xvi This alone gives the assumptions that you break down the limitations
created by conventional rules of thinking. Dietrich continues that; combining already
stored knowledge elements produces new ideas.xvii Here he brings in the ability to
work across different kinds of knowledge, thus making the term of unlimited use of
knowledge even stronger.

An interesting perspective on creativity has come from the field of Cognitive

Neuropsychiatry. Here Karlsson have found a connection between mentally ill people
and high creative achievement.xviii,xix Beside Karlsson several other research show the
same link.xx,xxi,xxii The link back to unlimited use of knowledge is that these mentally
ill people in the case of thought disorder are diagnosed by the tendency to be
continually diverted from an intended direction and by conceptual disorganisation in
thinking.xxiii It makes sense that they are more creative since they seem to have an
ability to go beyond the normal limitations in direction of thinking as well as capable
of creating concepts that consist of several field of knowledge. People who have these
abilities generate more new ideas, thus being more creative. xxiv Again this supports
the definition of creativity as unlimited use of knowledge.

Altshuller found... that 95% of new problems have already been solved - probably
many times overxxv And he continues that you most likely will find the solution in
industries and technologies which you do not have knowledge about. In the 70 and
80s he invented TRIZ a matrix system that link across fields of technology and
across industries in order to find the best solution to your problem.xxvi Altshullers
findings are directly in line with the unlimited use of knowledge across industries and
technologies.

For a creative approach the ideas for solutions are based on knowledge about
everything, because there is no limitation to only one field. The use of knowledge cuts
across disciplines, cultures, domains, memes, elements, products, objects, concepts,
industries, technologies, rules as well as directions of thinking. This is indeed
knowledge that is used in an unlimited way.

What is knowledge?
The term of knowledge needs to be explained a bit further when it is put in relation to
unlimited use of knowledge.
The use of knowledge goes across disciplines, cultures, domains, memes, elements,
products, objects, concepts, rules as well as directions of thinking. Looking at
unlimited use of knowledge, there is no difference and no reason to distinguish
between different kinds of knowledge and experience. The knowledge gained from
having a hobby or an interest is just as much worth as the knowledge gained from
having an education or a job. Knowledge is not something that has to be proved as
true in a scientific manner or otherwise before it can be used. Therefore knowledge in
this sense can be gained from a profession, an education, a sport, a hobby, a holiday, a
day out shopping, a random conversation, a dream, a fantasy, a lie or whatever source
a thought might have. Ideas contains different kinds of knowledge. One example is
that what Eliot said about his masterpiece called The Waste Land: Although the
poem may seems like a single product, it was actually a collection of hundreds of
different concept combinationsxxvii In the next part the creative process will be
analysed further. The following dialog is very much inspired by Michael Micalkos
taking a thought walkxxviii
In Alaska, during ice storms along the coastlines, there are major problems
concerning removing ice from power lines.
A) There are a lot of bears in Alaska, maybe we can use them somehow.
B) Yes, we could make them climb the poles, thus making the power lines
vibrate, so that the ice will fall off.
A) If we place fresh meat on the top of each pole, this will attract bears, and make
them climb the pole to get the meat.
B) Yes, and lets bring the fresh meat in helicopters to the top of the poles.
A) Then we need stockpiles of gasoline in the area for the helicopter.
B) What about pouring gasoline on the wire and burn the ice away?
A) We could wrap a hot wire around the wire to heat it?
B) Hey, what about to let the helicopters hover over the power lines. Their
hovering will vibrate the ice off the lines.
What they are saying could sound like it is just playing with thoughts, however these
thoughts are filled with extensive knowledge from particular fields of knowledge.

The knowledge in the dialogue is not presented as theoretical or methodological

explanations, but rather in a language that everyone can easily understand and build
on to contribute with their own expertise of knowledge.
Lets look at each sentence and identify the knowledge presented.
There are a lot of bears in Alaska, maybe we can use them somehow.
- This sentence contains knowledge about the animal life in Alaska, and the idea that
you can control animal behavior.
Yes, we could make them climb the poles, thus making the power lines vibrating, so
that the ice will fall off.
- This sentence contains knowledge that its takes huge strength to make the power
lines vibrate from the poles, as the bears are needed (bears are strong). It also contains
knowledge of the principle of vibrating ice of something
If we place fresh meat on the top of each pole, this will attract bears, and make them
climb the pole to get the meat.
- Here is knowledge that bears can smell fresh meat from long distances, as well as
knowledge that bears eat meat. Also here is knowledge that bears are excellent
climbers.
Yes, and lets bring the fresh meat in helicopters to the top of the poles.
- This contains knowledge about the logistic problems in the coastline areas of
Alaska. It also contains knowledge about that helicopters can fly very close to the
poles.
Then we need stockpiles of gasoline in the area for the helicopter.
- More knowledge about logistical problem of flying helicopters in this area.
What about pouring gasoline on the wire and burn the ice away?
- This idea contains knowledge about the heat capacity of gasoline.
We could wrap a hot wire around the wire to heat it?
Here we add knowledge about the hot wire used ex. In the rear window in a car.
Hey, what about to let the helicopters hover over the power lines. Their hovering will
vibrate the ice off the lines.
- This last sentence contains knowledge about the turbulence effect that is created
from the helicopter.
The main point of the dialog is that the ideas contain a lot of diverse knowledge used
to build up an improvised storyline. Another point is that there is no analytical
connection between the different ideas even though each idea clearly is inspired from
the previous. The connection between the ideas is horizontal and based on principals
or memes. The main principals are vibration of wire and heating the wire. These
principals are used as mirrors that connect different knowledge areas.
A dialog like this is only possible if the participants accept that all kinds of knowledge
from all kind of sources can be mixed and used without worrying about the status of
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the knowledge. It can be scientific knowledge but it can also be superstitious

knowledge, from a TV program about bears or knowledge from a dream. It does not
matter as long as it can be used to play with ideas in an improvised story.

Conclusion
Professions, subjects, practices and even sciences consists of patterns of thoughts and
doing. They are very much in line with our pattern behavioral brain and body. The
main effort of patterns is that they help us to save resources like time and energy.
Ones we learned that crossing a highway on foot is risky business, we use the
pedestrian crossing in the future. Patterns help us to manage both everyday life and
professional life. But if we want to create something new, the same patterns turn into
our worst enemy. Creativity is the business of creating across the established patterns.
Creativity is to use all our knowledge unlimited of patterns. To do that involves two
major difficulties.

The first difficulty is that the patterns control what we are able to perceive and
understand. The patterns control our eyes together with our thinking and doing.

The second difficulty is that ignoring the patterns, crossing patterns, is recognized as
bad behavior. This is true in the school, at the pub and in the scientific community.
Methods like discussions and analyses are designed to work within patterns only
allowing limited use of knowledge, and they perform badly in crossing patterns. The
main reason for that, is that they are based on values and rules that take things like
logic, knowledge hierarchies and borders between disciplines for granted.

Because of these difficulties we need a discipline that teach creativity as unlimited

use of knowledge. Here open-mindedness, cross-disciplinarily and improvisation are
the core values. How to teach and learn this discipline will be the scope of following
articles.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Popper, k. 1945 the open society and its enemies. 1ed. London Routledge.
All kind of knowledge need to be accepted until they can be proven false.
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xxiv

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