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| Posted by Peter on Sunday, February 03 @ 18:50:16 EST
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 Shortly after writing a poem for writers (Read it!), in Jan. 2002, I serendipitously found the word serendipity explained on p. 39 of The Surgeon of Crowthorne, by Simon Winchester (1998), as follows.
"Ceylon, the lushly overgrown tropical island which seems to hang from India's southern tip like a teardrop... is [now] called Sri Lanka; once Arab sea-traders called it Serendib, and in the eighteenth century Horace Walpole created a fanciful story about three princes who reigned there, and who had the enchanting habit of stumbling across wonderful things quite by chance. Thus was the English language enriched with the word serendipity, without its inventor, who never travelled to the East, really knowing why."
In the poem, I write:
let Dreams come, welcome Serendipity
avoid Pointless Flirtation
Day dreams happen when we follow a sequence of ideas and then slip into such deep thought that we forget our surroundings and lose our sense of time. Day dreams are useful for thinking about complex subjects, but do have to be balanced with the need to actually live the day, get fed, survive the hazards of travel, and so on. Perhaps the safest simultaneous occupation for day-dreaming is washing dishes. The occasional loss of a glass or cup is less important than the opportunity to day-dream while still doing something practically useful for yourself and other people.
Our dreaming at night may be even more important for serendipity. Personally, I do not know how it works, I just know from experience that it does. Working late and letting actions and thoughts crowd out sleep is sometimes unavoidable, and sometimes has good results, but the most rewarding and creative thoughts often come when I am waking up from a good long sleep.
Of course, not every serendipitous discovery is a treasure. The discovery can also be like a pointless flirtation, a relationship that cannot go anywhere. When I find myself thinking thoughts that go nowhere, I am sometimes able to consciously step in and tell myself to stop. Or I might ask myself why this is happening. Why are my thoughts drifting this way? Is there any anchor? Am I even on board the right ship? Why not?
By asking why our thoughts have become trivial, or confused, we can sometimes become more aware of a problem or uncertainty that has not been confronted and answered. This can be a major logical problem in a piece of research, or a minor technical problem in a piece of writing. By learning about our own ways of thinking, we can use mental devices (and also physical devices like notes written at the bedside) to help ourselves along.
For more about serendipity, the origins of the word, and its role in research and thinking, try exploring the website www.serendip.brynmawr.edu
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