Einstein’s relativity, the iPhone, and the Wright brothers’ first flight. These three incidents have something in common!
At first glance, nothing was found.
But, when you look closer, they all cracked the idea using the same underlying mechanism. YES!
Physics before Einstein was split into two domains namely Newtonian mechanics (classical physics) and Maxwell’s equations (electromagnetism). Between these two, he found a hidden intersection point that the speed of light is constant, and time & space are relative, which eventually led to the theory of relativity. He did'nt discard the both, but found a intersection point.
Then before the iPhone, phones were either business-oriented (BlackBerry with keyboards) or entertainment-focused (iPods, media players) only. So, Jobs found a intersection point between the two worlds by touchscreen technology with mobile communication, which resulting in iPhone (i.e.) the Smartphone.
And with the Wright brother's first flight, they took aerodynamics (nature) with bicycle mechanics (engineering) to find the common principle of lift and control. Then boom, they controlled flight using wing-warping and lightweight materials.
So, if you look at every ground breaking (zero-to-one) things that ever happened, there's this art they used, which gave birth to great inventions that helped humanity to push and evolve further.
It is BLENDING.
A form of art we might use subconsciously in our day-to-day lives, like in decision-making, handling relationships, and so on.
In mathematics, there is a concept called intersection. (Yes, that goddamn Venn diagram.)
It’s nothing but finding a common point between or among different individual entities. Just like that, the concept of blending works the same way. This might be the key mechanism we use in creativity or in inventing something new, like the zero-to-one phenomenon.
This blending mechanism could probably be applied in many aspects of life, especially in crucial decision-making moments.
Taking two uncommon and individual ideas and making a connection between them. Connection, in the sense, not by mixing the two ideas to create a new one, but by finding a common point between them.
But how can two individual ideas have a common point?
Yes, they might or might not.
That might part can be fulfilled by introducing external variables into the two ideas, allowing a common intersection point to emerge.
Then it’s somehow like mixing the two ideas, right?
Not entirely. Mixing two ideas alters their current state to form something entirely new. But in blending, we intersect them without changing their original nature.
From another perspective, think of it as introducing a third entity—one that satisfies both ideas without altering or resisting either of them.
This concept of blending applies to many of the decisions we make. If being kind is your cup of tea (not necessarily, just an assumption)—then blending might just be a subtle force at play in your choices (in terms of character)
Applying this could lead to new ideas, mechanisms, or innovations in any field it fits into.
Now, I’ll leave it to you—think about this mechanism.
I wrote just my initial impressions by articulating about this for a while. As awareness and knowledge cut-off increases gradually, I'll updated further on this mechanism in the next letter :)