My OperaWhat Is an Idea?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 12:11:27 AM
Only in logic and mathematics do definitions ever capture concepts perfectly. . . . You can know what a tiger is without defining it. You may define a tiger, yet know scarcely anything about it.
If you ask people for a definition, however, you get better answers, answers that come pretty close to capturing both the concept and the thing itself.
It’s something that’s so obvious that after someone tells you about it you wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself. An idea encompasses all aspects of a situation and makes it simple. It ties up all the loose ends into one neat knot.
That knot is called an idea.It is an immediately understood representation of something universally known or accepted,
but conveyed in a novel, unique, or unexpected way. Something new that can’t be seen from what preceded it.
It seems to me that these definitions (actually,they’re more descriptions than definitions, but no matter—they get to the essence of it) give you a better feel for this elusive thing called an idea, for they talk about synthesis and problems and insights and obviousness.
If you ask people for a definition, however, you get better answers, answers that come pretty close to capturing both the concept and the thing itself.
It’s something that’s so obvious that after someone tells you about it you wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself. An idea encompasses all aspects of a situation and makes it simple. It ties up all the loose ends into one neat knot.
That knot is called an idea.It is an immediately understood representation of something universally known or accepted,
but conveyed in a novel, unique, or unexpected way. Something new that can’t be seen from what preceded it.
It seems to me that these definitions (actually,they’re more descriptions than definitions, but no matter—they get to the essence of it) give you a better feel for this elusive thing called an idea, for they talk about synthesis and problems and insights and obviousness.
An idea is nothing more nor less
than a new combination of old elements.
