Creative Action: The Attachance of Moving Mental Elements

Oliver Ding
CALL4
Published in
14 min readMar 9, 2023

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In a previous article Creative Action: The Chance-configuration Theory and Beyond, I mentioned a mental element called “Dance” which is a meta-diagram. I also introduced a theory about creativity: Dean Keith Simonton’s Chance-configuration theory (Scientific Genius,1988).

This article aims to share more details about the process of developing the “Dance” meta-diagram.

A mental element called “Dance”

In the past two months, I worked on the TALE project. TALE stands for Thematic Analysis Learning Lab. As a new knowledge center, TALE aims to host the Thematic Engagement project and build a community around thematic innovations.

In January, I worked with Daiana Zavate on a thematic conversation project about “Strategic Exploration”.

In February, I worked on connecting my theoretical approaches with Product-based Business Development. The outcome is a new possible book titled Perspectives on Product Engagement (v1.0).

In addition, I also worked with a friend on a private thematic conversation project about “Mental Tendency”.

In the journey of thematic engagement, I discovered a meta-diagram and named it “Dance”. See the diagram below.

You can see the journey of developing “Dance” in the diagram below. The next article will use this diagram for a case study.

This insight is about making a meta-diagram by moving a mental element between several thematic spaces.

What’s a Meta-diagram?

Diagrams are one of my essential three knowledge units. I love to dwell in thought with diagramming. I even wrote a 108-page thesis that develops a theory about diagrams and diagramming in 2018. I consider two groups of ideas for my theory about diagrams. The first group is “meta-diagram, diagram, and diagram system” and the second group is “diagramming as an activity of knowing, theorizing and reflecting”.

The notion of “meta-diagram” considers a special type of diagram as an independent thing that doesn’t have to be a representation of an existing theory or model. For example, the 2x2 matrix diagram is a meta-diagram that doesn’t refer to any concrete theory or model such as BCG’s Growth-share matrix.

The picture below shows some meta-diagrams I made in the past several years. In 2021, I run a project called D as Diagramming and made some real examples with these meta-diagrams.

I also wrote a book (draft) titled Diagram Blending: Building Diagram Networks. You can find more details in its Introduction and its Table of Contents.

The “Dance” Meta-diagram

What’s the “Dance” meta-diagram? See the picture below.

A meta-diagram doesn’t need text because it only represents spatial structure and relations.

Based on a meta-diagram, we can develop a domain model which represents an abstract representation of a domain activity. For example, I used the “Dance” diagram to generate the following based model of “Product as Thing”.

The “Product as Thing” framework is an application of the Ecological Practice approach which is inspired by Ecological Psychology and other theoretical resources.

The basic unit of the Ecological Practice approach is the “Person — Thing” interaction and relationship.

  • Potential: the potential possible opportunities that a person could act with a particular thing.
  • Actual: what does a person actually act with the thing? Act 1 and Act 2 refer to two types of acts.
  • Focus: it refers to the thing the person is acting with.

From different perspectives, we can find many ways to discuss the “Person — Thing” interaction and relationships. In order to simplify the discussion, I use one thematic space to discuss one aspect of the thing.

How did I develop the “Dance” meta-diagram?

Initially, I discovered it from Daiana Zavate’s article Personal Project on Strategic Exploration: Thinking differently requires doing things differently in January.

In February, I started using it for the “Product Engagement” project and the “Mental Tendency” project.

A Case Study about Attachance

As mentioned in Creative Action: The Chance-configuration Theory and Beyond, Attachance Theory is about the ecological meaning and value of detaching acts and attaching acts. In other words, we pay attention to the process of moving between containers.

For the knowledge engagement project and the thematic engagement project in general, we pay attention to Thematic Spaces which are a specific type of container.

Container [Configuration (Mental Elements)]

Moreover, we can use the concept of “Nested Containers” to define several containers for case studies. For example, we can find the following three types of containers from my journey of working on TALE.

  • Projects: social containers
  • Thematic Spaces: cognitive containers
  • Digital Platforms: physical containers

We can make a new model for discussing Container [Configuration (Mental Elements)]. See the diagram below.

  • Each project corresponds to a thematic space.
  • Each project is supported by a digital platform.
  • A mental element can move between two thematic spaces.

Now we can focus on Attachance Theory and pay attention to the moving between these three types of containers.

In this way, we are going to discover the power of Attachances for creative cognition.

A Thematic Conversation Project about “Strategic Exploration”

From Jan 17 to Jan 31, I worked with my friend Daiana Zavate on a Thematic Conversation project about “Strategic Exploration”. During the journey, I discovered the initial idea of the “Dance” meta-diagram.

On Jan 18, Daiana published a post titled Personal Project on Strategic Exploration: Thinking differently requires doing things differently with a metaphorical diagram.

I noticed that she uses a metaphor to represent her rough ideas about “Strategic Exploration”: Pareidolia.

She also intently mentions the metaphor with a note:

Common case of Pareidolia (Wiki: Tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none)

Then I made a picture with the diagram for her theme “Strategic Exploration”.

I also used the diagram to make a new version of “Pareidolia”. See the diagram below.

You can find more details in my post TALE: Start A Thematic Conversation.

The thematic conversation led to a series of diagrams about Meta-learning. On Jan 19, I made the Field of Meta-learning (v1.0).

You can pay attention to the bottom of the diagram. I used two lines to connect “Self-Development” and “Creation”.

On Jan 30, I wrote a post titled TALE: A Strategic Designer’s Creative Journey and used the following diagram to discuss “Self-Development” and “Creation”.

The Field of Meta-learning (v1.0) doesn’t discuss the connection between Self-Development and Creation. One possible way to understand this connection is the above diagram.

  • Creation > Experience + Significant Insights > Meta-knowledge about “Self” > Possible Selves > Self-Development
  • Self-Development > Strategic Exploration > Experience + Significant Insights > Reproduction of Activity > Innovative Work > Possible Practice

You can find more details in TALE: A Strategic Designer’s Creative Journey.

Can we discover a move from this project? See the diagram below.

I used the mental element two times. The first time, I used it as a “Pareidolia”.

However, I used it as “Dance” the second time.

What’s the difference between “Pareidolia” and “Dance”? The “Dance” diagram is a part of the “Pareidolia” diagram.

It means that I moved the mental element from a part outside a whole and turn the part into an independent new whole.

I didn’t leave the project. So, the move happened within a thematic space.

A Knowledge Curation Project about “Meta-diagram”

On Feb 4, I made the following diagram on Miro.

I also shared it on Linkedin with the following messages.

[Ecological Practice Design] Product Engagement

This diagram is a rough idea about the theme of “Product Engagement”.

I use “Product — Engagement” to describe the “Person — Product” interaction and relationship.

This diagram only represents the perspective of the Ecological Practice Approach.

Inspired by Ecological Psychology, Activity Theory, and other theoretical resources, I developing a new theoretical approach called “Ecological Practice”.

The approach is formed with the following concepts:

1. Affordance
2. Attachance
3. Supportance
4. Curativity
5. Thematic Space
6. … some other concepts

Ecological Practice Design (Book)
https://lnkd.in/gP8Jg73H

You can also find some ideas about “Affordance”, “Attachance”, and “Curativity” in the following link:

Lifesystem: Theory-based Reflection
https://lnkd.in/gMB43QQN

If we adopt the Project Engagement approach, we will see a new diagram.

Project Engagement (v2.1) as an Innovation Approach
https://lnkd.in/gNcsGNeG

This short post led to a series of possible themes about “Product Engagement” and a possible book titled Perspectives on Product Engagement (v1.0).

The seed of the book is the new diagram I made on Feb 4.

Moreover, I saved the diagram as a template on Miro because I realized that this diagram could be reused for other projects.

In other words, this is a new meta-diagram.

I moved this mental element from a normal project to the meta-diagram project at that time.

If we use the Field of Meta-learning (v1.0) to discuss this move. Then The Meta-diagram project is about “Meta-knowledge” while the Project Engagement project is about “Knowledge”.

It also means there was an “Ecological Awareness” behind this move.

What’s “Ecological Awareness”? I used the diagram below to describe a researcher’s Ecological Awareness. You can find more details in The Curated Mind Toolkit (v1.0).

Life is a continuous flow, a researcher could see many things and events in a particular situation. However, she has to perceive significant and relevant things and events. She has to discover Similarities and Differences from the continuous flow and defines some perceived facts as data.

For example, we can record an online meeting. However, the video is not the data, but the raw material for making data for a research project. The researcher has to watch the video again and again until she can perceive some data.

For ordinary people, this process is called Ecological Awareness. Ordinary people don’t often intend to run research projects in their real-life world, they tend to miss significant opportunities to perceive important facts and generate useful insights.

Ecological Awareness requires paying attention to tiny changes in the environment anytime anywhere. It takes effect to do this job in the everyday life world.

I did not perceive the “Dance” diagram as a meta-diagram on Jan 18 and Jan 30.

However, I save it as a template on Miro and named it “Dance” on Feb 4. It means I perceived the Difference from the continuous workflow and defined it as a useful creative mental element.

A Thematic Conversation Project about “Mental Tendency”

I recently had a thematic conversation about “Mental Tendency” and other related topics with a friend.

On Feb 25, I used the “Dance” meta-diagram to make a model about “Mental Tendency”. See the diagram below.

The above diagram represents a simple model of external environmental events and internal mental activities.

After finishing the design, I realized that this is a card with two sides. The Green part refers to the Front side of “Mental Tendency” while the Pink part refers to the Back side of “Mental Tendency”.

I also noticed the two sides use the same “Dance” spatial structure.

I realized that I can make a real card with two sides.

Immediately, I printed the diagram and made a demo. See the picture below.

This was a fanatic movement.

The “Dance” meta-diagram was detached from the digital world and attached to the physical world.

The demo is rough, but it points to a new direction of further design.

A Knowledge Curation Project about “Product Engagement”

From Feb 6 to March 2, I worked on the “Product Engagement” project. During the process, I used the “Dance” meta-diagram twice.

On Feb 10, I used the “Dance” diagram to design a basic model of “Product as Thing” and a series of diagrams.

I select the following five aspects to connect the Ecological Practice approach and the “Person — Thing” interaction and relationship. If you use other theoretical approaches, you can use the above basic model to build your own thematic spaces.

  • The Natural aspect of Things: Affordance > Object
  • The Social aspect of Things: Supportance > Artifact
  • The Commercial aspect of Things: Attachance > Product
  • The Digital aspect of Things: Curativity > Platform
  • The Cultural aspect of Things: Genidentity > Brand

I also made a diagram for each aspect. The below is about the Natural aspect of Things.

The above diagram is the outcome of Diagram Blending. It was formed by two meta-diagrams. The below is the Dialectic Room.

The Dialectic Room is a Meta-diagram for playing with Pairs of Opposite Themes. You can find more details in The Dialectic Room: A new metaphor for innovation.

On Feb 28, I used the “Dance” meta-diagram to develop the “Product Langue” framework. I use the following working definition for the new idea.

  • Product Langue: an abstract thing that describes what a product is.
  • Product Speech: what people actually say about a product in various concrete situations.

The above diagram also highlights two ideas for the new idea: Essential Differences and Situated Dynamics.

  • Product Langue: It is about Essential Differences.
  • Product Speech: It is about Situated Dynamics.

The new idea offers a Linguistic Perspective on Product Engagement. Moreover, it also indicates a possible way of empirical research. We can focus on collecting data about Product Speech and use them to explain Product Langue.

The above diagram also uses the concept “Thematic Space” for the new idea. For the present discussion, I use it to refer to a social practice containing product speech.

The above diagram is the basic model of “Product Langue”. The “Langue” is a representation of a “Product”s core which describe its uniqueness.

In different concrete situations, the “Langue” is represented by different things which are focuses of product speech.

Based on the above model, I identify 14 types of thematic spaces and 5 types of product speech. You can find more details in TALE: Product, Langue, and Speech.

Did I choose the “Dance” meta-diagram for the “Product Langue” very naturally?

Not.

I make a comparison between the “Dance” meta-diagram and the other two choices.

The Activity Circle Framework was developed for discussing “Self, Other, Thing, Think”. It could be used for discussing “Thematic Space”. You can find more details in The Activity Circle (Oliver Ding, 2017).

The above diagram is a sub-model of ARCH which is a Visual Language of Interpersonal Interactions and Collaborative Project Engagement.

Finally, I decided to keep using the “Dance” meta-diagram for the “Product Langue” project.

What does it mean from the perspective of Attachance Theory?

It means there are two thematic spaces about using the “Dance” meta-diagram:

  • The thematic space of “Dance”. In this thematic space, I only consider Using It or Not Using It.
  • The thematic space of a set of similar Meta-diagrams. In this thematic space, I have to Compare the “Dance” meta-diagram with other meta-diagram and Select it.

The “Using It / Not Using It” action is a simple Attach/Detach action. However, the “Compare—Select” is not a simple Attach/Detach action because it requires more cognitive energy than the “Using It / Not Using It” action.

Discussions

Let’s use Container [Configuration (Mental Elements)] to summarize the above stories. See the diagram below.

We found four projects and five moves from the above stories.

  • Project 1 (SE): The thematic conversation project about “Strategic Exploration”
  • Project 2 (MD): The knowledge curation project about “Meta-diagram”
  • Project 3 (MT): The thematic conversation project about “Mental Tendency”
  • Project 4 (PE): The knowledge curation project about “Product Engagement”

What are the five moves?

  • Move 1 (Part—Whole): the mental element is part of a whole, but it detaches from the whole and becomes a new independent whole.
  • Move 2 (Knowledge — Meta-knowledge): the mental element detaches from normal knowledge and attaches to a thematic space of meta-knowledge.
  • Move 3 (Using It - Not Using It): the mental element detaches from the meta-diagram thematic space and attaches to the normal work. Also, there is a simple process: Using it.
  • Move 4 (Digital — Physical): the mental element detaches from the digital world (Miro) and attaches to the physical world (Paper).
  • Move 5 (Compare — Select): the mental element detaches from the meta-diagram thematic space and attaches to the normal work. Moreover, the mental element has to compete with other potential candidates.

From the above case study, we discover five types of Attachances:

  • The “Part-Whole” Attachance
  • The “Knowledge — Meta-knowledge” Attachance
  • The “Using It — Not Using It” Attachance
  • The “Digital—Physical” Attachance
  • The “Compare — Select” Attachance

Each type of Attachance has its own specific aspect. This is not a closed typology. We can discover more types of Attachances by contacting more case studies.

In the previous article Creative Action: The Chance-configuration Theory and Beyond, I introduced Dean Keith Simonton’s Chance-configuration theory (Scientific Genius,1988). The “Dance” meta-diagram is a good example of the theory. The above case study presents a process of transformation from a mental element to a configuration (meta-diagram). I also use the meta-diagram as a mental element later.

If we adopt Attachance Theory to expand the Chance-configuration theory, we can find more details of the ecological impact on creativity. This is the missing piece of the Chance-configuration theory.

Mental elements (or Creative Sparks) could be discovered everywhere because the mind is not only inside the head.

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Oliver Ding
CALL4

Founder of CALL(Creative Action Learning Lab), information architect, knowledge curator.