2.4 Lateral Thinking (continued)

Non‑Sequential

There may be no reason for saying something until after it has been said. Once it has been said a context develops to support it, and yet it would never have been produced by a context. It may not be possible to plan a new style in art, but once it has come about it creates its own validity. It is usual to proceed forward step by step until one has got somewhere. But it is also possible to get there first by any means and then look back and find the best route. A problem may be worked forward from the beginning but it may also be worked backwards from the end.

Instead of proceeding steadily along a pathway one jumps to a different point, or several different points in turn, and then waits for them to link together to give a coherent pattern. It is in the nature of the self‑maximizing system of the memory‑surface to create a coherent pattern out of such separate points. If the Pattern is effective then it cannot possibly matter whether it came about in a sequential fashion or not. A frame of reference is a context provided by the current arrangement of information. It is the direction of development implied by this arrangement. One cannot break out of this frame of reference by working from within it. It may be necessary to jump out, and if the jump is successful then the frame of reference is itself altered.