“A process creative: foundation
In wide-ranging, deep preparation.
Then: steps incubating,
Scenes illuminating,
And subsequent verification.”
The 12 April 2023 limerick summarized Graham Wallas’s model of creative cognition. Wallas was a psychologist who lived from 1858-1932, and this specific discussion was presented in his 1926 book The Art of Thought, stating that creative insights occur via a four-step process.
“A process creative: foundation /
In wide-ranging, deep preparation.”
The first step of Wallas’s model of creative cognition is preparation: the accumulation of knowledge and understanding over a long period of study.
“Then: steps incubating, /
Scenes illuminating, /
And subsequent verification.”
The second step is incubation: a period of time wherein the individual is not consciously considering the question or topic as intentionally as in the preparation period. The third is illumination, where the flash of inspiration or insight arrives in a moment (I often think of this as the most cinematic step). Finally, the fourth step, that of verification, involves the idea’s testing and eventual validation by the larger community. All four steps lend themselves quite well to the meter and rhyme scheme of a limerick!
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Interestingly, while such a narrative would not be part of a scientific journal article, this is often a pattern that can be seen in the stories of scientists’ discoveries, such as physicist Lise Meitner’s inspiration regarding nuclear fission (during a winter walk with another physicist, her nephew Otto Frisch) or chemist August Kekulé’s discovery of the structure of benzene (legend holds that he realized the key insight after waking up from a nap in front of the fireplace).
These “illuminations” are the sort of moments I enjoy highlighting in limerick and double dactyl forms. Moreover, these types of stories and Wallas’s model both suggest echoes of Louis Pasteur’s famous 1854 quote, always a favorite: “In the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.” Since this is (unbelievably) my 200th post here, it seems a fitting opportunity to revisit some of these words.
Chemphasis 