An original idea is like Carbon

And how Claude Monet paints air, plus some quick Systems Thinking mental models

Hello intersectional thinkers 👋

Greetings from an adventure-evoking Air New Zealand ATR 72. I know they say you don’t have to look outwards for adventure, but every inch of my body sings with anticipation when I board an aircraft.

Anyway, onto today’s 3 ideas to spark your intersectional thinking for the week ahead.

• 1 rebellious thinker: Claude Monet and the atmosphere 🍃

• 1 unexpected intersection: an original idea is like Carbon 💎

• 1 visual Zettelkasten: Carbon nuggets from Systems Thinking 🐓

Read time: 3 mins

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1 Rebellious Thinker

Everyday I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.

I do what I can to convey what I experience before nature. And most often, in order to succeed in conveying what I feel, I totally forget the most elementary rules of painting, if they exist that is.

I want the unobtainable.

Other artists paint a bridge, a house, a boat, and that’s the end. They are finished.

I want to paint the air which surrounds the bridge, the house, the boat, the beauty of the air in which these objects are located, and that is nothing short of impossible.

I’m continuing to work hard, not without periods of discouragement, but my strength comes back again.

- Claude Monet, French impressionist painter known for his atmospheric landscape

Monet in his Giverny garden, as he says “I must have flowers, always, and always”

1 unexpected intersection

An original idea is a lot like Carbon.

Carbon is at the center of stars.
As a star lives, more carbon is made. And when the stars die, the carbon is sent out to the universe and recombined with others.

And Carbon, just like original ideas, loves to socialize.
In fact, Carbon, just like ideas, needs to combine with others to stabilize.
Some form diamonds, other form coal. Carbon creates glucose just as it creates graphite. Our proteins, fats, DNA, muscle tissues are all carbon based.

The product of carbon might not look alike, but when you zoom in enough, that original idea shines.

Carbon is the essence of life.
So is an original idea 💎

1 visual Zettelkasten

A few Carbon nuggets I found in Systems Thinking:

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Have a good week!

Vicky