Where Good Ideas Come From

by Steven Johnson

I use DEVONthink as an improvisational tool as well. I write a paragraph about something—let’s say it’s about the human brain’s remarkable facility for interpreting facial expressions. I then plug that paragraph into the software, and ask DEVONthink to find other passages in my archive that are similar. Instantly, a list of quotes appears on my screen: some delving into the neural architecture that triggers facial expressions, others exploring the evolutionary history of the smile, others dealing with the expressiveness of our near-relatives, the chimpanzees. Invariably, one or two of these triggers a new association in my head—perhaps I’ve forgotten about the chimpanzee connection—and so I select that quote, and ask the software to find a new batch of passages similar to it. Before long, a larger idea takes shape in my head, built upon the trail of associations the machine has assembled for me.