friction breeds creativity
type: scraps
I have a simple thesis: friction breeds creativity, and as of today, it’s in danger.
Friction is not just “the grind”; rather, it’s the uncomfortable feeling you get after something not positive happens; the offshoot of the (probably) negative experience. In practice, it becomes the art of the struggle. And the key word here is “art”: like art, friction becomes an ephemeral experience in which you can learn, be inspired from and refine your tastes from.
It comes in many forms. Some examples: Cooking -> grocery shopping, choosing and picking your ingredients. Cooking exotic recipes that require sourcing ingredients from somewhere else than your usual, closeby grocery spot. The inevitable fuck up you have when making the final dish that renders the entire process useless.
Clothes -> physical friction from trying things on and searching for articles that fit you. trial and error of trying different articles of clothing. IRL shopping becomes king here.
travel -> going the extra leg work to discover things on your own - stumbling upon things rather than researching every detail. figuring out what to do when things go wrong. even the “good” experiences can sometimes be bad ones: sometimes, the highlights are where things go wrong.
Today, optimization is king. We must optimize and cut everything that wastes time. Order your groceries from doordash; no, order your complete food from doordash. No, order your complete food from a pre-made macro friendly service. Take the uber over public transit or walking - it saves 5-10 minutes. Plan your vacation itinerary down to the minute so you have an easy path to follow.Wwho cares what you’re wearing? monotone and normal fits purchased online - it fits good enough and looks OK. Literally anything to remove any possibility of encountering any friction. We must eliminate friction!
Why is this scary? Because friction inspires creativity.
Creativity here is loose, so let’s walk through some examples: a concrete one is art itself. Art is fun because it is two fold: physical creation and the story behind it. Like cooking, physical creation for art is awarded the same struggles: gathering materials, the act of creating itself taking effort, and the possibility of it becoming nothing. In a way, it itself becomes the genesis for many points of friction. But, art is more than just what looks nice, but rather the story, and friction is the fuel that gives way to creativity. This is across all mediums: beauty comes from lived experiences in Magritte’s ‘The Lovers" and Clapton’s ballad ‘Layla’. These pieces of work engendered friction in not only creation but the life experiences behind it - and art is just one manifestation for that.
To some “art” is a little abstract. But creativity takes many more forms than just art creation: it helps you refine who you are and also gives you the ability to bounce back from adversity. Every time you encounter a struggle in the things that you do, you learn more about yourself - cliche, but it’s true.
Take any of the examples I mentioned in the friction definition above. Yeah, ok: you blew up cooking your dish after you spent god knows how long gathering all of the ingredients. But you figured out how to save it (well, you turn it into something else entirely - but it’s edible at least. and maybe delicious!). And of course, it sucks when you’re on vacation and nothing goes as planned: you’re camping in a beautiful vista during the day and at night it becomes a windy galestorm and you’re afraid your tent is going to blow you to Kansas. It’s uncomfortable as you try to sleep under your tent crying - but you know you’re not in danger so you stick it out until the morning. And guess what? It was fine! Sometimes the best stories are where it goes wrong: type two fun, baby - impossible without friction.
so what are we without these things? these moments of friction become stories that shape yourself, and that’s what make us human (Harari would probably agree).
so: friction is in danger. and it turns out, friction engenders not only that uncomfortable feeling: but the offshoot becomes ways to hone your craft, your ability to be flexible and curate your taste. thus - creativity is in danger. be warned.