Research On Creative Thinking From The Perspective Of Complexity

The way of thinking,simply speaking,is the process of human thinking.Creative thinking refers to the process of thinking that leads to a novel,valuable,or satisfactory product.To carry out the research of creative thinking has profound significance for the improvement of human cognition and the development and deepening of the practice.The evolution of the way of thinking is often accompanied by changes in the development of science and philosophy,from Aristotle's theory on universe to Newton's philosophy on world order.Simplicity and reduction of the linear thinking mode entitle the world a picture of amazing order and harmony.Postmodernism has given up the world outlook based on causality and linear thinking.With the rise of complexity science and philosophy,nonlinear thinking mode has become the basic mode of understanding the complex world.In many theoretical branches of complexity research,the complex adaptive system theory of John Holland,an American scholar,opened up the path of the emergence of complexity research.Holland thinks exploring complexity is to reveal the emergence.Emergence is an omnipresent phenomenon of the world around us,and the generating process of things have shown the characteristics of emergence.The essence of the emergence is from small to big or from simple to complex,in which can produce a new feature that did not exist previously.As the basic way of thinking,the creative thinking has the characteristics of nonlinear thinking mode.From the perspective of complexity,John Holland's theory of emergence is also suitable for the exploratory research of creative thinking.Based on the emergence theory of complexity science,this paper probes into the mechanism of the emergence of creative thinking and the effective ways to promote creative thinking,which reveals the binding generating process of emergence of creative thinking.In the view of complexity,thinking itself is an open,dynamic and complex adaptive system.The emergence of creative thinking is the process of the nonlinear interaction among the internal consciousness,unconsciousness and the external environment which can lead to a novel product.The nonlinear interaction is embodied in the process of the contradiction balance movement among the conscious,subconscious and external environment.Specifically,when faced with a creative task,exploration and analysis of the conscious and subconscious mind is always in an active state,the two factors carrying out the explicit exploration and subconscious retrieval in a continuous activity and orderly transformation.In the whole process,the consciousness and unconsciousness involves mutual penetration in the content or composition,mutual borrowing in information resources,mutual complement in mental function,and mutual realization of the overall function of shared consciousness system.In the dynamic movement of unconsciousness,consciousness and environment,and in the contradiction and consistence among the three factors and each component of the thinking system,a new structure and behavior model,namely,the emergence of creative thinking is generated.According to the theory of emergence,the emergence of creative thinking is the process of binding generating,which contains two meanings.First,the production of creative thinking is a generating process,with the characteristics of emergence,so we should uphold the perspective of generating principle to promote the emergence of creative thinking.Second,the process of creative thinking is a restricted process and the emergence mechanism of creative thinking can only occur in the potential space in which there is a constrained interaction among consciousness,unconsciousness and environment.Therefore,to promote the emergence of creative thinking needs to coordinate environment,consciousness and unconsciousness,under the guidance of the generating theory,enabling the mechanism of the interaction of the three factors play the biggest effect.There are two ways to promote the emergence of creative thinking which are to enhance the adaptability of the subjects'creative ability and develop an appropriate environmental strategy.To enhance the adaptability of the creative subject,namely,the construction of the creative subject is the primary way to promote the emergence of the creative thinking,which includes the improvement of the consciousness of exploration and the stimulation of unconsciousness.Exploration of consciousness is a prerequisite for the emergence of creative thinking,and conscious exploration ability should focus on professional knowledge,professional knowledge of the quantity,structure and types as well as the management and use of knowledge,all of which can affect the individual consciousness exploration level and the emergence of creative thinking.We should pay attention to the cultivation of creative intention in the process of conscious exploration,and intentionality plays a guiding role in the creative thinking,provided the goal is correct and strong.The adjustment of thinking emotion in the process of innovation and exploration is also an important part of the conscious exploration ability.In addition,the subconscious activity is the cause of the emergence of creative thinking.Unconsciousness is a kind of unconscious mental activity in the unconscious state,and the inspiration and intuition are the subconscious forms which can reflect the subconscious state of the creative thinking.The storage and stimulation of subconscious content is of direct significance to the cultivation of creative thinking.To stimulate unconsciousness needs to strengthen the conscious awareness of the preparatory work,to participate in social practice,to stimulate the subconscious hint,pay attention to the habit and ability training of similar associations.The second important way to promote the emergence of creative thinking is to develop an appropriate environmental strategy.Environmental strategy is also a necessary condition for the emergence of creative thinking.Environment is the sum of all the external factors and prerequisites based on which people engage in all kinds of activities.To develop an appropriate environmental strategy involves the cultivation of the spirit of innovation in family education and promotion of the development of creative education in school education system,and striving to strengthen the building of creative social environment,especially the social cultural environment.It is the interaction between the creative external environment and the creative subject that promotes the emergence of creative thinking.In summary,from the perspective of the emergence of complexity,the generating process of creative thinking is a two-way construction process of creative subject and environment which involves an array of aspects,such as conscious exploration ability,reserve and stimulation of unconscious contents,building of creative environment,and etc.In reality,all these factors,by interacting with each other,exert influence on the emergence of creative thinking.The three is an organic whole which needs long-term cultivation and development in a systematic way.