PO

The first function of PO: creating new arrangements of information.

Experience arranges things in patterns. Things in the environment may happen to be arranged in a particular pattern or else attention may pick things out in a certain pattern. In one case the pattern is derived from the environment and in the other case it is derived from the memory surface of mind since this directs attention. The first function of PO is to create arrangements of information that do not arise from either of these two sources. Just as NO is used to weaken arrangements that are based on experience so PO is used to generate connections that have nothing to do with experience.

Once information has ‘settled’ into fixed patterns on the memory surface then new arrangements can only occur if they are directly derived from these patterns. Only such trial arrangements of information are allowed as would be consistent with these background patterns. Anything else is dismissed at once. Yet if (somehow) different arrangements of information could be brought about and held for a short while then the information might snap together to form a new pattern that was either consistent with the background pattern or capable of altering it. The purpose of PO is then either to bring about arrangements that would otherwise not occur or to protect from dismissal arrangements that would otherwise be dismissed as impossible. These functions may be listed as follows:

• To arrange information in a way which would never have come about in the normal course of events.
• To hold an arrangement of information without judging it.
• To protect from dismissal an arrangement of information which has already been judged as impossible.

An arrangement of information is usually judged as soon as it comes about. The judgement results in one of two verdicts: ‘This is permissible’, or ‘This is not permissible’. The arrangement is either affirmed or denied. There is no middle course. The function of PO is to introduce a middle course. PO is never a judgement. It does not quarrel with the verdict but with the very application of the judgement. PO is an anti-judgement device.

PO allows one to hold an arrangement for a little longer without having to affirm or deny it. PO delays judgement.

The usefulness of delaying judgement is one of the most basic principles of lateral thinking. It is also one of the fundamental points of difference from vertical thinking. With vertical thinking an arrangement of information must be right at every step, which means that one must use judgement at the earliest possible opportunity. With lateral thinking an arrangement of information may be wrong in itself but can lead to a perfectly valid new idea. This possibility arises directly from consideration of the mind as a self-maximizing memory surface.

By delaying judgement and holding onto an idea a number of things may happen. If the idea is pursued far enough it may be found to make sense. If one holds onto the idea then freshly arrived information can interact with the idea to give a valid idea. The unjudged idea may direct the search for information that can prove useful in its own right. Finally if the idea is held long enough then the context into which it did not fit may itself be changed.

Exactly the same considerations apply to the use of PO for protection of arrangements of information that have already been judged and dismissed. Such dismissed arrangements may have been dismissed long ago and it may be a matter of resurrecting them under the protection of PO. On the other hand the arrangements may have been proposed and dismissed only recently.

It is important to realize that the use of PO for creating new arrangements of information is quite different from the use of the usual devices for arranging information.

• PO does not have an addition function as provided by ‘and’.
• PO does not have an identity function as provided by ‘is’.
• PO does not have an alternative function as provided by ‘or’.

The function of PO is to bring about a provocative arrangement of information without saying anything at all about it. The arrangement itself is not important but what happens next is. The purpose of the arrangement is to lead forward to new ideas.

In practice there are certain specific occasions on which it is convenient to use PO.

Juxtaposition

The simplest use of PO is to hold two unrelated things together in order to allow them or their associations to interact. No connection or relationship at all is implied between the two things. Nor is there any reason for putting them together (except what might happen). Without the PO device one would not easily be able to put things together in this way without finding, suggesting, or forcing some reason.

One might say, ‘computers PO omelettes’. From this juxtaposition might come such ideas as: Cooking by computer or by some pre-set automatic device. Another idea would be a central store of recipes and one would use a telephone to dial in your ingredients and requirements in order to be given a matched recipe. Both omelettes and computers are concerned with the changing of raw material into a more usable form. In an omelette things are mixed up but come out in a definite form so with a certain type of computer an apparently random mixing of information would still result in some definite output (as for instance in the brain).

Introduction of a random word

Instead of linking two unconnected words together as in juxtaposition PO can be used to ‘introduce’ a random unconnected word into a discussion in order to stimulate new ideas. You could say, ‘Gentlemen, you know all about lateral thinking and the use of a random input to help disturb cliché patterns of thought and to stimulate new ideas. I am now going to introduce such a random word. This word has no connection at all with what we have been discussing. There is no reason behind my choice of the word. The only reason for its use is the hope that it will provoke some new ideas. Do not feel that there really is a hidden reason. Do not spend your time searching for this reason. The word is ‘raisin’. Instead of saying all that one would simply say: ‘Po raisin’.

If the problem under discussion was, ‘How to use study time’ then this random word could set off such ideas as: raisins – used to make cakes enjoyable – small pockets of sweetness – intersperse short periods of more interesting subjects among longer periods of less interesting subjects – create small nodes of interest in less interesting subjects; raisins – dried grapes – concentrated sweetness – concentrate and summarize material so that it can be taken in over a shorter time; raisins – exposed in the sun to dry – perhaps one can study in a pleasant surrounding as easily as in an unpleasant one – do lighting, colour etc. affect boredom? Perhaps material can be subjected to ‘glare’ of analysis by someone else in order to reduce it to its essentials; raisins – dried for preservation – notes and summaries easier to remember but need reconstituting with fluid (i.e. examples).

Disconnected jumps

In vertical thinking one moves in sequential steps but in lateral thinking one can make disconnected jumps and then try and fill in the gaps. If you do this in the middle of a vertical thinking discussion then everyone else will be very confused as they try to find the logic behind this jump. In order to indicate that the jump is a lateral disconnected one you could preface your comment with PO. For instance in the discussion about study time you might say, ‘Po time spent studying is time spent not doing other things.’

The jump may be only a small one within the same field or it may be a large one to an unconnected field. PO saves one the trouble of having to link the new remark to what has gone before. As usual PO implies, ‘Don’t look for the reason behind this. Let us just go forward and see what the effect of it is.’

Doubt (semi-certainty)

Whenever a discussion gets blocked by the impossibility of proving a certain point PO can be used to open things up again. PO does not prove the point or deny it but it allows the point to be used in any way which will enable the discussion to keep going. One can then see what happens. It may be that nothing very useful comes of it and one realizes that the original point was not so vital after all. It may be that one can reach a solution and from this one can find another way back to the starting point without having to go through the doubtful point. It may be that one can only reach a solution through the doubtful point and so one comes to realize how vital this point is and therefore increases the effort to prove it. This particular use of PO is not very different from the ordinary use of ‘if’ or ‘suppose’.

Being wrong

In lateral thinking one does not mind being wrong on the way to a solution because it may be necessary to go through a wrong area in order to get to a position from which the correct path is visible. PO is an escort that allows one to move through the wrong area. PO does not make things right but it switches attention from why something is wrong to how it may be useful. In effect PO implies, ‘I know this is wrong but I am going to put things this way in order to see where it leads me.’

In considering the problem of keeping the windscreen of a car free from dirt and water someone suggested that cars ought to be driven backwards since the back window was always much easier to see out of than the front window. In itself this is obviously nonsense since if one was going backwards that window would get just as dirty as the ordinary windscreen. Nevertheless the suggestion, ‘Why not drive backwards’ can lead on to such other ideas as indirect vision systems or some way of protecting the windscreen from head on exposure to mud and water.

In this example PO would be used in the following way. Someone would suggest driving backwards and this would be met with the response, ‘That’s nonsense, because…’ The reply to this would be, ‘Po why not drive backwards’? The purpose of PO would be to delay judgement — to hold the idea in mind for a few moments in order to see what could arise from it instead of dismissing it at once.

Holding function

In addition to protecting an idea which is obviously wrong PO can be used to protect an idea from judgement. In this case the idea has not already been judged but is about to be subjected to critical analysis. PO is used to delay this. This function of PO is rather similar to its use for the introduction of a random stimulus. An ordinary remark or idea in the course of a discussion is turned by the use of PO into a catalyst. Used in such circumstances PO indicates: ‘Let’s not bother to analyse whether this is right or wrong — let us just see what ideas it will lead to.’

PO could be used by the person offering the idea or it could be used by anyone else. Thus if an evaluation of the idea was started someone could simply interject, ‘Po…’ This would mean, “Let’s hold off evaluation for the moment.”

Construction

In school geometry a problem is often made easier to solve by adding some additional lines to the original figure. This process is similar to that involved in the story of the lawyer whose task it was to divide up eleven horses among three sons so that one of them got half of the horses, another got a quarter, and the third son got one sixth. What he did was to lend his own horse to the sons and then divided the twelve horses up, giving the first son six, the second three and the third two. He then took his own horse back again.

Here PO is used to add something to the problem or to change it in some other way. Changing the problem in this way can lead to new lines of development, new ways of looking at it. The purpose of changing the problem is not to rephrase it or put it in a better way but to alter it and see what happens next. For instance in considering the efficiency of the police in dealing with crime one might say, ‘Po why not employ one-armed policemen?’ Changing the problem in this way by adding the factor of ‘one-armed policemen’ would focus attention on the possible advantages of being one-armed and especially on the need to use brain and organization rather than muscle power.