VARIETY in DESIGN

It is argued that creativity might be amplified through the co-operative sharing of brain power (in contrast to Ashby’s amplification of intelligence by restricting attention to the problem). This argument is extended to the act of design (seen as the making of the new), where it is proposed that the nature of the computer is to encourage co-operative sharing because, by making perfect copies, it denies ownership. This, in turn, underpins the processes of collaging and transformation that so suit the computer. A means of using the computer is proposed in which both sharing and distortion are encouraged, so that the new may be made while the individual’s sense of creation and of origination is respected. Possible questions and difficulties are raised. Some are resolved.1