Isaac Asimov
American science fiction writer (1920 to 1992), one of the 'Big Three'; professor of biochemistry at Boston University who wrote or edited more than 500 books, including much popular science and other non-fiction.
Isaac Asimov did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
-
Making the cross-connections that produce new ideas requires a certain daring
Making the cross-connection requires a certain daring. It must, for any cross-connection that does not require daring is performed at once by many and develops not as a “new idea,” but as a mere “corollary of an old idea.”
technologyreview.comSaid c. 1959This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 8 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Making the cross-connections that produce new ideas requires a certain daring
Making the cross-connection requires a certain daring. It must, for any cross-connection that does not require daring is performed at once by many and develops not as a “new idea,” but as a mere “corollary of an old idea.”
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
A new idea usually seems unreasonable at first and reasonable only afterward
It is only afterward that a new idea seems reasonable. To begin with, it usually seems unreasonable.
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
The people most likely to get new ideas know their field well and are unconventional in their habits
Consequently, the person who is most likely to get new ideas is a person of good background in the field of interest and one who is unconventional in his habits. (To be a crackpot is not, however, enough in itself.)
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
Show 5 more
Creativity, in the writer's feeling, requires isolation
My feeling is that as far as creativity is concerned, isolation is required.
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
Group idea sessions seem to serve to educate participants in facts and thoughts, not to think up new ideas
It seems to me then that the purpose of cerebration sessions is not to think up new ideas but to educate the participants in facts and fact-combinations, in theories and vagrant thoughts.
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
Everyone in a creative session seems to need to be willing to sound foolish and to hear others sound foolish
It seems necessary to me, then, that all people at a session be willing to sound foolish and listen to others sound foolish.
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
A creative group should probably have no more than about five people
The optimum number of the group would probably not be very high. I should guess that no more than five would be wanted.
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
A feeling of responsibility is probably the greatest inhibitor of creativity; great ideas came from people not paid to have them
Probably more inhibiting than anything else is a feeling of responsibility. The great ideas of the ages have come from people who weren’t paid to have great ideas, but were paid to be teachers or patent clerks or petty officials, or were not paid at all.
How Do People Get New Ideas? (1959 essay, first published by MIT Technology Review, 2014) Said c. 1959
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.