Steal More Ideas

Steal More Ideas



    You’re shopping in the supermarket in a frenzy trying to weasel your way through the crowds. You pass by the cereal aisle. There it is. The cereal idea that you thought about years ago. You know, the one that you thought no one would have ever thought of. But here you are. Looking at the idea that you never manifested into the real world of the Cereal Industrial Complex. You feel betrayed. As if someone stole that idea from your brain and took it for their own benefit. Maybe your cereal idea wasn’t so original in the first place. That’s a possibility isn’t it?

We may have had many moments of us feeling guilt or regret for someone else acting upon their own similar ideas. We may make excuses and toughen up on our own smug sense of self and think that we could have done a better job. Moments later we return a new cycle of compulsory thought that makes us forget about the idea theft we felt just minutes ago. Welcome to the modern distracted universe!

Where do these so called “original ideas” come from? What makes us motivated or drawn to manifesting or bringing these ideas into fruition? Do you think that we should be able to “own” ideas as if they are property and prosecute people that take these ideas?

In reality we can come to terms that a person an patent a product or concept and prevent us from producing or copying the same thing. This is inherently tied to intellectual property. Whether I agree with it or not, there are fundamental consequences for trying to “rip” something off verbatim especially when it is wrapped up with contracts and legalities.

We can always innovate. We can always take someone's idea and improve on it with creativity and the intention of pushing the conceptual continuity of the original idea. When an idea is manifested from a thought based concept to a real and tangible object or action, it allows for the potential of progress, order and/or chaos. Humans don’t live in a vacuum and all things that arise from thought are allowed to be scrutinized, challenged, improved and fragmented. It is the fragmentation and analysis of all of these various ideas that form the way we see and build the world around us.

Ideas evolve from the ideas that preceded them. Think about the progress and evolution of musical genres through history. Think about the various art movements that seemed to organically morph from one to another and die or change into a different form. We can learn so much about how we interact with ideas and how it relates to the quality of our consciousness.

“ If you are a painter, what other painters and paintings are you looking at?”
“ If you are a cook, what other cooks do you admire? What recipes tickle your fancy?”
“ If you are a fisherman, how would you improve the lures and rods you use?”

Sometimes we want to clench so tight to our so called original ideas, that they end up dictating unconscious action and becoming our identity. This attachment to the originality of “our” ideas distract us from the ephemeral and inherent elasticity of the ideas themselves. Ideas emerge from thought. Thought begets thought. So when we have a thought, we have a thought that leads into another thought. Were the thoughts simply directing us to the cohesion of an idea that could be manifested into something in the real world? Did we have much control or will to dictate the nature and path of these thoughts?

We can become somewhat intoxicated by the popping up of a good thought. It may stop us in our tracks and we may even physically stop what we are doing to entertain the appeal of these “good” thoughts. We may take action and write it down or even make a course of action to try to realize the intoxicating idea(s) that popped up into our consciousness. Other times we may be too busy and simply let the good ideas float down the river of compulsory thought. It may pop up later and we may act differently or not.

So as we established above, most good ideas are motivated from the past and the knowledge we have collected. The impetus of these ideas begin with the brain trying to make sense of the world and acting on trying to navigate more effectively and efficiently.  Some people may see a chair as just a chair, but a person with a different past will see chair as a catalyst for something more. They may see that they can improve the integrity of the chair or even try to reproduce/ copy the chair for financial gain.

Past Experience and outer and inner environment influence the work of thought patterns in the mind. This works into and influences our sense of self. Are we determined or destined to think these thoughts from our memories, thoughts and knowledge? Can we really be independent from our thoughts when the concept of the “thinker” is a thought in the first place? Can we truly control and free ourselves from the pull and influence of thought patterns that lead to successful and unsuccessful ideas?

As an experiment, don’t try to control the thought pattern. Simply observe. When you step back and watch the river of compulsory thought, do you get more access to ideas. Do you pay more attention to the birth of good ideas?

Ideas are meant to be amorphous and less concrete. When an idea becomes manufactured and dull, it loses its flavor and applicability to be manipulated and improved. This is why it is so important to be open to so many ideas even if we may see them as trivial, dangerous or abhorrent. The ideas that were once stuck in the middle of our small heads, are now out in the world to be seized, taken and manipulated. You may have introduced the idea and take credit for it, but when it is manifested ( Material or Concept ) you are agreeing for it to be improved or destroyed. How miraculous is that?

Stealing ideas aren’t immune to consequences.

One person may have more resources to implement and idea that was put out there.
One person may have more intellectual insight and drive to execute and idea that wasn’t originally theirs.

What is important is that we observe what our relationship to ideas are.

Our relationship to thought. Our relationship to our identities.  Our relationship to how we manifest our ideas and what value it gives us and society.

Why limit yourself to the limited biases and attachments of others?

Challenge people’s ideas with curiosity, scrutiny and the openness to listen and challenge with respectful discourse. 

Respect the value of other people’s ideas, but do not fear trying to imitate or replicating them. Humans thrive and grow from imitation. This is how we learn. This is how we progress as a human species. When we can observe our attachments to ideas and the relationship we have with ourselves, we can be creative. We can be creative without the fear of failure.

We can go into discovery into the unseen, the unexplored. We may execute bad ideas a few times and manifest really fantastic ideas later on. In any case we can divorce ourselves from the impulsive need to place ideas on a viable and non-viable spectrum. We can step back from placing ideas on a good and bad spectrum.

Of course we must be mindful of our time and energy, but with an elastic and curious mind we can entertain the idea of pushing new and exciting ideas no matter how uncomfortable it might make us.

Discomfort and uncertainty and great for improving and implementing fresh new ideas.

Go out and play! Play with ideas. Take ideas. Manipulate and steal those ideas. Let the ideas form into other unintended plays. Let those ideas play with other ideas. Let those ideas birth new ideas and observe.


Take this apart. Criticize it. Let it inform you. Deny it. Let it be. Surrender yourself to the present. See what arises without analyzing it.

DG

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