Pataphysics: A Secret Weapon for Creativity

Pataphysics is a freewheeling literary trope that had an oversized but under-appreciated impact on 20th century art and postmodern philosophy. It’s generally thought of as a precursor to other artistic movements, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and the Decadent movement. However, pataphysics is much more than a footnote in literary history. It’s also a powerful tool for boosting creativity. Just like William Burroughs’s “cut up” method adds spontaneity and randomness to any artistic work, pataphysics adds a nearly magical element of calculated absurdity.

Pataphysics goes by a number of definitions. It’s broadly conceptualized as an extension of metaphysics, just as metaphysics is an extension of physics. Alfred Jarry, the inventor of pataphysics, also calls it “the science of imaginary solutions” as well as “the science of the particular.” Another way to think of pataphysics is to define it in terms of the pataphor, which is basically a wildly extended metaphor. In this view, pataphysics is the “science” of creating pataphors.

Since each of these definitions yields a different tool for aiding the creative process, I’ll expand upon them separately.

1. Divergent Thinking

At face value, pataphysics, defined as an extension of metaphysics, is pure nonsense. What could it mean for…