Expect the unexpected

“Expect the Unexpected (or You Won’t Find It): A Creativity Tool Based on the Ancient Wisdom of Heraclitus” is an extraordinary book.

Roger Von Oech’s book is based on the teachings of Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.535–c.475 BCE), who was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. Heraclitus is famous for his insistence on ever-present change in the universe, as stated in his famous saying, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.” He believed in the unity of opposites, stating that “the path up and down are one and the same.” Creativity expert Von Oech used his epigrams to draw a roadmap for thinking. There are 30 epigrams explained in the book and I will share some of them.

“The Cosmos speaks in patterns.” There are many patterns around us. We may notice similarities: galaxies and water emptying out of a bathtub both spiral in the same way. We may notice relationships: the tighter a government’s restrictions on its press, the less prosperous that society is likely to be. Or we may arrive at correlations: on the whole, bigger animals such as whales, elephants and humans live longer than smaller animals such as mice and hummingbirds. When we meet a problem, we can try to see the pattern of the problem or we can try to find a pattern to help to solve the problem. For example, daylight follows the dark of night — a pattern of time. So when we encounter a problem we can start to think of the effects of time on that matter.

The title of the book is “Expect the Unexpected (or You Won’t Find It).” Actually this is an epigram of Heraclitus again. The past creates a set of assumptions in our minds, so we tend to think the life will repeat itself. Christopher Colombus could not discover a new continent if he continued to believe that there was nothing in the west. Facebook, Google and the iPhone were unexpected advancements of the last decade; their competitors never believed or expected these developments could exist. McDonald’s never expected that Starbucks would be their main competitor. We find things in their usual places but look for them in unexpected places. By the way, usual places are an unexpected place to check. Von Oech make three suggestions to deal with the unexpected: (1) Loosen our preconceptions about what we expect to find in any given situation, (2) pay special attention to the anomalous rather than ignoring it and (3) use what we discover as a stepping stone to something very different.

“Everything Flows.” Everything changes continually over time, even the iron. If you observe an iron block for two minutes, probably you will not notice a change, but in several years you will see rust and corrosion. A pond becomes a part of the sea by evaporation. Beautiful young ladies and gentlemen age. Seeds become trees and furniture in time. These flows sometimes turn turbulent, bringing major change. Even the process of birthing a baby can be described as a process of turbulence in a mother’s body. Spectacular hormonal and physiological changes happen in a pregnant woman’s body.

“You cannot step into the same river twice.” We know that the water and even the river bed change every moment. There is a dynamic process of change in the universe and nothing is stable. Human perception tends to believe that everything is stable. When we accept that there is a constant change in life, we can easily follow the change and turn it into an opportunity or become aware of its dangers.

“That which opposes produces a benefit.” Perhaps this is one of the most thought-provoking epigrams of Heraclitus. The main reason behind the discovery of America is not the true wonder but, rather, the Ottomans. The trade routes of the Silk Road were controlled by the Ottomans. The prices of materials from the Silk Road skyrocketed with the rise of Ottoman control of the Silk Road, causing Europeans to need a new way to reach India. The quest for a different route to India lead to the discovery of America.

With very different and practical examples, Von Oech explains the epigrams of Heraclitus. It is a book you may read again and again for years. <Cihan/Melih Arat>

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