Part of solving the problems brought on by a stagnant and divisive moment in American culture is bringing more nuanced thinking into public discourse. Creative ways of investigating contentious issues can lend dignity and understanding to opposition that is often all too easy to vilify and dismiss, serving only to maintain the problem. One method we can practice in our families and in our classrooms is 20th century thinkers George Prince and William Gorden’s synectics process, a generative technique that works to connect seemingly disparate ideas.
Although there are many variations of the synectics process, all strive to achieve the same goal: pushing a thinker towards clearer analogies and associations by uncovering commonalities. Through conflating and refining ideas in descriptive lists, one encounters paradoxes that divulge new ways of seeing an issue that, in time, reveal more personalized analogies between those contradictory terms. Teacher Anna Greene has posted a 26 minute video slow-walking though the entire process, drawing connections between three seemingly unrelated topics: herself, a bunch of grapes, and a copy machine. Teacher John Graves posted the process in action with more abstract topics in a shorter 15 minute video that brings the technique to life in the classroom, making it almost game-like and easily transferable to the family dinner table.
The star feature of synectics is the compressed conflict, a pair of traits that seem at odds with each other. Demanding one think critically to uncover new perspectives, we see that these compressed “conflicts” actually have much in common. In Anna Greene’s example, one compressed conflict is squished versus protected. While grapes are protected, cultivated, and cared for, they are inevitable stomped and squished to create wine, juice, or jam. The same applies to the copy machine. While it’s well cared for, to the point it may even have its own technician, it will inevitably get slapped or kicked or crushed in an employee’s fit of rage. Compressed conflicts transform the things that set us apart into the things that bring us together.
A significant value of the synectics process is how it can expand one’s empathy and open mindedness, particularly by pitting the familiar and accepted against the contentious and oppositional. In turn, the two are bridged. Synectics allows us to safely explore the discomfort we feel when we encounter contradictory ideas, which in turn prepares us for when we come upon those ideas in the wild world. In order to heal the divides we suffer, we need some alternative methods of connection, ways to think and rethink that allow for us to seek common ground between wildly different perspectives. By defining and expanding creative connective paths in our minds, the synectics process can help us towards a kinder, more understanding society.
