Combinatory Play: Why Einstein Procrastinated
How Einstein used violin breaks to get unstuck and the value of play in problem solving.
Sometimes you just get stuck. You’re facing a goal or project that you have to or want to finish and you’re bludgeoning your head against the wall trying to do so. It’s figuratively painful to keep going. At this point, you have two options.
Your first option is to double down. It’s supposed to be difficult. You’re supposed to struggle. How else will you get this thing done? Even though you’re between a rock and a hard place, it doesn’t matter. So you stick with it and dredge your way forward, not enjoying it one bit, and not really making much progress.
Your second option is to give yourself some space. Step away from the project that you’re completely stuck on and do something else. Something that you’ll actually enjoy. It doesn’t have to be difficult. It doesn’t have to be your calling. And it doesn’t have to be for an extended amount of time. As long as it’s different and you’re having fun, it’s worth it.
This sounds a bit like procrastinating, no? Why would you work on something completely unrelated, just for fun, when you have this massive project that needs to be completed? Spending time on anything else seems like a waste. Except it isn’t.
The second option, of doing something unrelated, is what Albert Einstein defined as combinatory play. Combinatory play is the “act of opening up one mental channel by dabbling in another”. In other words, it is taking two unrelated things and putting them together to generate new ideas.
These combinations in play include everything from studying new subjects to playing instruments to engaging in physical activity and so on.
In the case of Einstein, he would use his violin breaks as his form of combinatory play. Often when he was stuck, he would set aside his work and play the violin for a few hours. During these breaks, he would suddenly get an idea that would get him moving on the problem at hand. Just like that.
In a letter published as An Essay on the Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field, Einstein wrote the following as a testimonial:
My Dear Colleague:
In the following, I am trying to answer in brief your questions as well as I am able. I am not satisfied myself with those answers and I am willing to answer more questions if you believe this could be of any advantage for the very interesting and difficult work you have undertaken.
(A) The words or the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of thought. The psychical entities which seem to serve as elements in thought are certain signs and more or less clear images which can be “voluntarily” reproduced and combined.
There is, of course, a certain connection between those elements and relevant logical concepts. It is also clear that the desire to arrive finally at logically connected concepts is the emotional basis of this rather vague play with the above-mentioned elements. But taken from a psychological viewpoint, this combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought — before there is any connection with logical construction in words or other kinds of signs which can be communicated to others.
(B) The above-mentioned elements are, in my case, of visual and some of muscular type. Conventional words or other signs have to be sought for laboriously only in a secondary stage, when the mentioned associative play is sufficiently established and can be reproduced at will.
(C) According to what has been said, the play with the mentioned elements is aimed to be analogous to certain logical connections one is searching for.
(D) Visual and motor. In a stage when words intervene at all, they are, in my case, purely auditive, but they interfere only in a secondary stage, as already mentioned.
(E) It seems to me that what you call full consciousness is a limit case which can never be fully accomplished. This seems to me connected with the fact called the narrowness of consciousness (Enge des Bewusstseins).
Einstein is explaining his theory of combinatory play and how it is often something both visual and physical - an act of motion that he can get lost in and essentially find flow. Words and consciousness are not necessary, but rather fully disconnecting from those thoughts completely.
So why does this work? There are a few reasons.
1. Combinatory play lowers the stakes
More often than not, our work comes with pressure, expectations, and a desire for success. All of that can make the work a lot more stressful. By utilizing combinatory play, you can relieve some of that stress.
Doing something that is fun and void of risk, changes the entire dynamic. You are able to rediscover your creativity and clarity of thinking and just make. It is that transition of letting your guard down that serves as the real benefit.
2. Combinatory play connects ideas
These seemingly unrelated activities or endeavors will combine in ways you weren’t expecting. This is the essence of combinatory play. You end up connecting the dots between disparate ideas and stumble upon solutions that were otherwise hidden.
The great part of it all? You don’t need to force the connections. At a subconscious level, your mind is still thinking about your initial problem and suddenly you’ll have the iconic AHA! moment that will make sense of it all.
3. Combinatory play shifts perspectives
Sometimes you’re just too close to the problem to see the solution. You’re walking among the trees instead of seeing the forest. Changing your perspective can make all the difference. This is again accomplished by the act of combinatory play.
As you focus on a new task, subject, or skill, you get a break from what you were doing. This respite gives you a new perspective and affords you a fresh take on the problem at hand.
“Ideas cause ideas and help evolve new ideas. They interact with each other and with other mental forces in the same brain, in neighboring brains, and thanks to global communication, in far distant, foreign brains.”
ROGER SPERRY
So the next time you’re stuck on something, give combinatory play a try. Pick a hobby or activity that you enjoy and do it just for fun. Set a simple goal and have at it for a few minutes or hours.
Don’t think about the lingering problem that you’ve left behind, just focus on what you’re doing in the moment. Have fun, be creative, get into the flow, and enjoy.
It might just change everything.
Originally published on alyjuma.com
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