But I Digress

The other day, I had a really interesting conversation with two of my good friends. It was one of those discussions that keeps going because there's so much to talk about. I find that those are the most interesting ones, filled with tangents and digressions. You know, the kind that change from subject to subject, and then at the end, you try to remember how you made such a great leap. I find tangents amazing. It's strange how you can transition from one topic to the next without even realizing it, but it does pose a problem if you didn't finish your original story, and you can't remember what it was.

It kind of reminds me of a mind map, starting with one idea and then branching out in different directions. If conversations can be thought of as being creative, they seem to include both convergent thinking, where there's only one right answer, and divergent thinking, where there are many right answers. Usually, convergent thinking is the default, and it's considered easier than divergent thinking. However, if these concepts are loosely applied to conversations, it's almost as if in conversations, divergent thinking is easier because you're free to take the conversation in many directions. When you try to think convergently to get back from the tangent to the original subject, it's a lot more difficult. Maybe communication is the key to creativity. In that case, we should start having a lot more conversations.