In the process of integrating information, there are three main places where you can gather its branches.
These are the Domain, the Individual, and the Field.
These are the three elements that Csikszentmihalyi, famous for his theories on flow and creativity, identified as essential for creativity to emerge.
The Domain is a forest.
The Individual is a mighty tree.
The Field can be compared to an open meadow.
People usually think that only a brilliant Individual matters when it comes to creativity.
However, Csikszentmihalyi believed that “creativity” exists within the dynamic relationship between these three elements.
1. Domain
Regarding why a “Domain” is necessary, there is a famous quote left by the scientist Isaac Newton.”
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
“What does this mean?”
It means that without the achievements built up by previous generations of scientists, he could not have produced such original results.
Likewise, those who utilize a Domain do not start from the very bottom.
They start from the shoulders of giants.
The “Domain” is like a forest.
It is a repository where knowledge, evolved by humanity over ages, is preserved.
The knowledge resting in a Domain is in a highly stable state, like a rigid branch.
This is because the knowledge within a Domain has survived various testing processes in the field and has become widely accepted by humanity.
Conversely, while this knowledge is verified, it can also be seen as outdated knowledge that may not fit our current environment.
Therefore, a creative Individual knows how to integrate Domain knowledge into themselves and then transform it.
For instance, in Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, Angel, the inventor of the Omni-directional Mobility Gear, did not start from scratch.
He first explored various Domains within the cultural forest.
Through this process, Angel acquired knowledge in forging, cannon manufacturing, and materials processing.
Humans cannot actually become giants.
However, by utilizing the knowledge within a Domain, we can stand on the shoulders of giants.
If he had not had the opportunity to explore the cultural forest, he would never have been able to create the Omni-directional Mobility Gear to fight the Titans.
The Domain is an important repository, but it is one where outdated knowledge is stored.
For this reason, chaos is necessary.
A creative Individual introduces changes to the Domain to adapt it to today’s environment.
So, how can an individual create something new?
2. Person
At the Academy Awards, film director Bong Joon-ho quoted Martin Scorsese, saying, “The most personal is the most creative.”
Then, why is it that the most personal leads to creativity?
I believe the answer lies in “individuality.”
This is because for something to be called “personal,” it must possess a defining characteristic that distinguishes it from others.
In other words, individuality disrupts established conventions that most comfortably accept, ultimately serving as the driving force that triggers new change.
The reason people produce different results even when absorbing the same culture is that each individual’s rootstock is different.
In grafting, the “rootstock” refers to the base plant that provides the root system.
“What kind of rootstock I have” depends on the genes and memes I carry.
“Genes” refer to biological genes, while “memes” are units of cultural transmission, often described as the cultural equivalents of genes.
Since the genes and memes we are born with differ from person to person, embracing this uniqueness allows us to breathe new diversity into a rigid, established Domain.
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall offers a compelling example of how different cultural integration methods depend on one’s individuality.
Xenophon and Angel, who co-created the Omni-directional Mobility Gear, were colleagues making weapons together within the same craft tradition.
If Xenophon was the Artisan, Angel was the Artist.
The Artisan refers to someone who works deeply within a single Domain.
Xenophon was interested in processing a new material called Iron Bamboo.
Iron Bamboo is a type of bamboo as hard as steel, but because it was a new material, processing it was highly difficult.
However, Xenophon succeeded in processing the Iron Bamboo, crafting a sword that could wound the Titans.
On the other hand, the Artist refers to someone who integrates a wide range of different Domains.
While Xenophon focused on Iron Bamboo, Angel turned his attention to another new material, Iceburst Stone.
Iceburst Stone was a highly explosive fuel, but it could not be used as a weapon because it slowly vaporized at room temperature.
However, Angel found inspiration in a Domain seemingly unrelated to weapon manufacturing: canning technology.
Applying the principles of canned food preservation, Angel developed a high-pressure gas cylinder, creating a mobility device that allowed humans to reach great heights.
As such, because each individual has a different rootstock—such as their inherent interests and inclinations—the results of integrating culture vary as well.
While some, like the Artisan, never look beyond a single Domain, others, like the Artist, explore multiple Domains.
However, a solution created by an individual is like a dry branch that has not yet undergone a testing process.
It needs a testing ground where this dry branch can be strengthened through validation.
This place is precisely the “Field.”
The most personal may be the most creative, but the most creative does not automatically survive.
That potential must be tested within the Field.
3. Field
If information gathered from books is an indirect experience,
information obtained in the Field is a direct experience.
This is because a cultural Domain is a repository where solutions made by others are stored,
whereas the Field is where I verify my own solutions firsthand.
Since the information gathered from the Field is firsthand and directly relevant to myself, it can be integrated into my own thinking immediately.
We repeat the process of refining the solution with information from the Field and testing it in the Field once again.
So, what must we do to pass the test posed by the Field?
Like playing a game of Go, we must utilize the various relationships woven across the meadow.
Within this web of relationships called the Field, multiple competitive and symbiotic relationships are closely intertwined.
The outcome will vary depending on which of these relationships the stone I place lands upon.
In Before the Fall, there is a scene that shows how the renowned inventor, Angel, utilizes the Field to create the Omni-directional Mobility Gear.
Although Angel was capable of operating “the device”—the predecessor to the Omni-directional Mobility Gear—he was left nearly blind from an accident.
He could not gather firsthand information directly from the battlefield.
Instead, he relied on other collaborators within the Field.
Kyklo took on the role of validating the improvements to the device.
Cardina compiled Kyklo’s combat data into detailed reports and delivered them to Xenophon and Angel.
At the time, the craftsmen Xenophon and Angel disagreed on the development of the Omni-directional Mobility Gear.
Thanks to Cardina’s reports, the two were able to get back on the same page.
Through refinements, they succeeded in reducing the device’s weight and strengthening the wires so they would not snap.
However, its movement was still restricted to vertical directions, making it nearly impossible to defeat a Titan.
To overcome this limitation of vertical movement, horizontal mobility was added to the new model.
Yet, because the new model was also confined strictly to up, down, left, and right directions, there were still clear limitations in fighting Titans.
With the addition of horizontal movement, the equipment became heavy once again.
Through the reports they received, Angel and Xenophon reached the conclusion that to defeat a moving Titan, they had to move omni-directionally in three dimensions.
In this way, through the firsthand knowledge gained from the Field, these individuals were able to create the Omni-directional Mobility Gear that reached a critical point.
At first, the Omni-directional Mobility Gear was nothing more than a new solution created by Angel, Xenophon, and a few individuals who supported them.
However, after undergoing various testing processes, it evolved into a solution for all of humanity.
From Domain to Individual, from Individual to Field, and from Field back to Domain.
As this three-way cycle continues, knowledge evolves to adapt to a changing environment.
So, what must we do to develop the ability to integrate information gathered from the Domain, the Individual, and the Field?
You can watch the full version on YouTube ‘Mutant Creativity, vol 4-2’