Honestly, I think that it's just because people are wired slightly differently in the pattern-matching areas of their brain. I'd like to be able to do some things, like write computer software, but the kind of intuitive leaps which come naturally to a good programmer just usually aren't there for me. I don't see the shortcut; I don't see the logical progression; I've never written a truly righteous hack. I also sucked at calculus because I didn't see through the equations to know when to apply certain recutive formulae.
On the other hand, give me a camera and I can -work- a subject. Give me a starting point and a couple of characters and I can flesh out a story. The inspiration sleets down light lightning in a bad storm. And, like I said, I think it has something to do with the way that we see the essential object through the noise of the rest of the environment. It's pattern-matching, except in this case, it's like some strange kind of open-ended mensa test. Triangle, square, pentagon -- what comes next? (Or, in the case of a story I'm working on, early bronze age society, small group of religious outcasts, and a stranded human escape craft. What comes next?)
To some extent, of course, it also just comes down to how well you know the subject matter. For example, I know the workings of my camera intimately. I know what effects f-stops will have on my depth of field at what range, I've learned to 'see' in the reduced dynamic range of a digital sensor or film, I've learned what effect shutter speeds have on my picture, etc, etc. Once this is truly _learned_, to the point where you don't even consider it consciously, it just comes together transparently and astounds those who've never encountered it before. It's zen -- the best work comes when there is no thought involved, because there need be no thought involved, because you are in the moment and working on sheer reflex and inspiration to get what you need to do done. The tool becomes an extension of yourself.
These two aspects combined -- the simple knowledge of the tools you're using and your natural inclination to different forms of pattern-matching and recognition -- seem to lead people to excel in different fields. Being able to compose something like that techno piece in two hours is the result of knowing your tools so intimately that they are transparent to the creative process, and having an intuitive grasp of the patterns of music, so you can say "I want this...what should I do?" or "This just happened...what should come next?" and a few good answers come to mind.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 11:43 am (UTC)On the other hand, give me a camera and I can -work- a subject. Give me a starting point and a couple of characters and I can flesh out a story. The inspiration sleets down light lightning in a bad storm. And, like I said, I think it has something to do with the way that we see the essential object through the noise of the rest of the environment. It's pattern-matching, except in this case, it's like some strange kind of open-ended mensa test. Triangle, square, pentagon -- what comes next? (Or, in the case of a story I'm working on, early bronze age society, small group of religious outcasts, and a stranded human escape craft. What comes next?)
To some extent, of course, it also just comes down to how well you know the subject matter. For example, I know the workings of my camera intimately. I know what effects f-stops will have on my depth of field at what range, I've learned to 'see' in the reduced dynamic range of a digital sensor or film, I've learned what effect shutter speeds have on my picture, etc, etc. Once this is truly _learned_, to the point where you don't even consider it consciously, it just comes together transparently and astounds those who've never encountered it before. It's zen -- the best work comes when there is no thought involved, because there need be no thought involved, because you are in the moment and working on sheer reflex and inspiration to get what you need to do done. The tool becomes an extension of yourself.
These two aspects combined -- the simple knowledge of the tools you're using and your natural inclination to different forms of pattern-matching and recognition -- seem to lead people to excel in different fields. Being able to compose something like that techno piece in two hours is the result of knowing your tools so intimately that they are transparent to the creative process, and having an intuitive grasp of the patterns of music, so you can say "I want this...what should I do?" or "This just happened...what should come next?" and a few good answers come to mind.