# Jootsing **We can break the creative process down into the following three steps:** 1. Gain a deep understanding of a particular system and its rules. 2. Step outside of that system and look for something surprising that subverts its rules. 3. Use what you find as the basis for making something new and creative. It may not be simple to do, but it is reliable and repeatable. In [_Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393348784/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=farnamstreet-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0393348784&linkId=445a44aaa3460113b2c2c06e3a487c63), philosopher Daniel C. Dennett describes this process of understanding a system in order to step outside of it as “jootsing,” using a term coined by Douglas Hofstadter. “Jootsing” means “jumping out of the system.” Dennett explains that jootsing is the method behind creativity in science, philosophy, and the arts: “_Creativity, that ardently sought but only rarely found virtue, often is a heretofore unimagined violation of the rules of the system from which it springs_.” The rules within a system could be things like the idea that a painting must have a frame, a haiku must only have seventeen syllables, or a depiction of landscape must have a blue sky. But galleries hang paintings without frames all the time. Haiku without seventeen syllables win international contests. And landscape paintings don’t need to contain a sky, let alone a blue one. Creativity, as Dennett describes it, is not about pure novelty. The concept of jootsing shows us that constraints and restrictions are essential for creativity. **Limitations are essential because they give us a starting point and a shape to work against.** While [amateurs](https://fs.blog/2017/08/amateurs-professionals/) may attempt to start from scratch when trying to make something creative in a new area, professionals know they must first get in touch with the existing [territory](https://fs.blog/2015/11/map-and-territory/). Before even contemplating their own work, they take the time to master the conventional ways of doing things, to know what the standards are, and to become well-versed in [the types of work considered exemplary](https://fs.blog/2020/04/shoulders-of-giants/). Doing so can take years or even the best part of a career. Dennett summarizes: “_It helps to know the tradition if you want to subvert it. That’s why so few dabblers or novices succeed in coming up with anything truly creative_.” [Understanding a system](https://fs.blog/2019/09/externalities-why-we-can-never-do-one-thing/) first is necessary for creativity for two reasons. First, it provides something comprehensible to use as a starting point, and second, it makes it possible to come up with something more interesting or useful. **If you try to start a creative effort from nothing, you’ll end up with mere chaos.** Dennett writes: “_Sit down at a piano and try to come up with a good new melody and you soon discover how hard it is. All the keys are available, in any combination you choose, but until you can find something to lean on, some style or genre or pattern to lay down and exploit a bit, or allude to, before you twist it, you will come up with nothing but noise._” Creativity often begins with accidents that end up showing a new possibility or reveal that violating a particular rule isn’t as harmful as expected. Elsewhere in the book, Dennett suggests that any computer model intended to generate creativity must include mistakes and randomness, “_junk lying around that your creative process can bump into, noises that your creative process can’t help overhearing._” Most of us say we want to be creative—and we want the people we work with and for to be creative. The concept of jootsing reveals why we often end up preventing that from happening. **Creativity is impossible without in some way going against rules that exist for a good reason.** **You also need to permit the making of mistakes if you want to foster creativity, because that often ends up leading to new discoveries.** Dennett writes, “_The exploitation of accidents is the key to creativity, whether what is being made is a new genome, a new behavior, or a new melody._” Most accidents never end up being profitable or valuable in a measurable way. But they’re necessary because they’re part of the process of developing something new. Accidents fuel creativity. ### Joosting and science Joosting is critical in doing good science, the ability to step in and out of a system to move up and down levels of resolution is critical. The best way to ensure that you can do this is to have separate and distinct times for this type of thinking; trying to mix and match in the moment is far too challenging. You need a way to take good incoming ideas and then integrate so reflect categorize on them. You need time to do this. This is now the hard thing. When you are in the weeds of running an experiment, it is so much harder to bring your head up for air. This is why the author and editor approach is so effective. This approach is very similar to doing night science and day science or having a principal investigator work with a Lab student, this approach is highly effective at CGE when Tom created NRP, he effectively was stepping out of the system when I advocated for us to have uncertainty in our actual darts or when I advocated for us to work on overfitting or when I advocated for Jeff to use a sharp reward This is an example of someone being outside the system who could provide a new fresh set of eyes very quickly. This is incredibly when you’re moving very fast and it is hard to jump in and out of the system with ease if you have more time doing what is often called graduate student descent is a good approach but when you’re moving very quickly as in a start up, it is harder and there is more cognitive burden due to less time to get your head out of the system and immediately recognize the flaws in an approach. This is one of the biggest benefits of a team Another perspective that is able to come in without all of the pre-existing constraints and biases that you have built via working with the system --- Date: 20240427 Links to: Tags: References: * [“Jootsing”: The Key to Creativity](https://fs.blog/jootsing/) * Dan Dennett Intuition Pumps, Hofstadter