Creative Thinking in the Nature of Science PART A (ii)

Part A (ii) Creative Thinking in the Nature of Science
In (i) creative thinking is required to make observations, to notice.
In part (ii) Creative thinking is required to interpret and make inferences from your observations. What do you think?

Beveridge “argues that the art of observation depends on developing the capacity for pattern-recognition, which in turn relies on a broad pool of networked knowledge that allows you to spot the piece that doesn’t fit”
(Beveridge, 1950. The art of scientific investigation.)

In carrying out effective scientific observation you deliberately notice for
each characteristic you know may be there, 
for any unusual feature or unexplained , 
and especially for any suggestive associations or relationships among the things you see, or between them and what you know.

In this image

What do you think? What do you wonder?
What do you know? What don’t you know?
What is the same? What is different?
What patterns / relationships can you recognise? Is there a hidden pattern?
Is there an outlier (s)? Was there something that you did not expect to see happening?
Did you need to see the bigger picture or wait for a prolonged period of time to see the pattern or connections?
What inferences are you making when you see this image?
What questions do you have? What burning question has it inspired in you to want to know?
Do we all make the same inferences? Ask some other people, what inferences did they make? Were their observations the same? If so, how did they make a different inference to you? If their observations were different, what did they notice differently to you? Why do you think they saw a different pattern? Can you justify why your inference is better? How do your observations support your justification? Do you need to change your thinking?
What new connections have you made?

Pattern recognition can lead to new discoveries, and innovative ideas and connections.

‘Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.’ (Steve Jobs 1996)