Um, I'm not sure what this is about....
"Working out" that something must have happened of which we weren't
conscious isn't the same as being conscious of it.
I'm not suggesting that we don't experience flashes of "inspiration;" I'm
only suggesting that we may be starting to understand the brain processes
that underlie those flashes.
What's more, knowing what goes on in the brain can suggest ways of, for
instance, learning and teaching that can improve outcomes.
Or am I misunderstanding you?
I did a quick google and found that Sawyer's work appears in the same
resources as does Johnson-Laird's, so perhaps the two are related. I'll
have to add Johnson-Laird to my reading list.
Cheers.
Fil
On 3 April 2011 18:33, Keith Russell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Filippo,
>
> You ask: "Does Johnson-Laird know of the work of Sawyer, who suggests that
> our
> apparent flashes of inspiration occur only because we are not conscious of
> the work our brain is doing to solve the problem?"
>
> By analysis, implication and/or theory, consciousness can become conscious
> of many things that are per-conscious.
>
> When we don't have such methods to help us, and, in the moment, we are
> likely to call an experience of inspiration a flash or some such
> instantaneous thing. Why? Well, because that is what we experienced, in
> consciousness.
>
> Knowing that other things go on in the brain is a little bit like working
> out that your lover has spent 2 hours in front of a mirror to create a face
> and cultivate a gaze that appears to you as natural, beautiful and full of
> genuine emotion. You still get excited even though you might also have
> worked out that you have been preparing yourself for hours, days, weeks,
> months, years for this moment of wonder.
>
> Mature designers, thinkers, lovers, have strategies for bringing on wonder
> and creativity moments. That is, we can know a lot about per-conscious
> events if we bother to find out.
>
> cheers
>
> keith
>
>
--
Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Ryerson University
350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON
M5B 2K3, Canada
Tel: 416/979-5000 ext 7749
Fax: 416/979-5265
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://deseng.ryerson.ca/~fil/
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