Seven ± Two

A recent article in Wired about the possible long-term effect of the internet on our brains reminded me of the concept of cognitive load: -

The depth of our intelligence hinges on our ability to transfer information from working memory, the scratch pad of consciousness, to long-term memory, the mind’s filing system. When facts and experiences enter our long-term memory, we are able to weave them into the complex ideas that give richness to our thought. But the passage from working memory to long-term memory also forms a bottleneck in our brain. Whereas long-term memory has an almost unlimited capacity, working memory can hold only a relatively small amount of information at a time.

Most of us know cognitive load theory as 'Seven ± Two'; the idea that we can really only hold between five and nine chunks of information in our short-term memory at one time, that our RAM is limited to that many memory slots.

So how might Seven ± Two relate to creativity and performance?

Every improviser knows the discipline of 'clearing the mind' ahead of a show.  If two or three of your seven memory slots are occupied before you hit the stage then you are, by definition, 'preoccupied'.  I would say that all acts of creativity require a similar understanding.  If writing comedy is all about jamming together seemingly dissonant ideas then a preoccupied mind is always going to inhibit the process.  Whatever it takes for you to clear your mind is what you need to do.

But sometime our cognitive load can't be cleared by a mere act of will or a routine of breathing exercises.  Sometimes those 7±2 memory slots are preoccupied by something bigger than ourselves.  Something like grief or dread or hope or joy.

In which case all we can do is recognise that this is the case and try again later.