Nikola Tesla and the Multiverse

[wegge]

Hello!

Some of you might know that Nikola Tesla used to construct and run his engines and other inventions for months in his imagination, his mind -- before he finally had them built. They ran flawlessly upon first try.

In the article below I explain the backstory and the development of his unusual talent of deep imagination.

I also give two other quick examples of the creative realm, the imagination at work in real-life breakthroughs: Google and Albert Einstein.

My bottom line is, I'm looking for inventors, scientists, product developers etc. who would be up for experimenting with their imagination and consciously develop it, because my hypothesis is that this will lead them to greater breakthroughs, because the imagination seems to be a kind of quintessence in all the wonderful stories shared in the article.

Hope you enjoy it!

Link to the article on Substack, called "Nikola Tesla and the Multiverse". (https://christophweigert.substack.com/p/nikola-tesla-and-the-multiverse)

[Vangelo]

I don't know if this is what you are talking about but I have solved complex problems without overtly thinking about them. Instead, I consciously put the problem I am trying to solve in the back of my mind and let it stew. I don't consciously work the problem. Instead, I would just go about my normal life and barely think about the problem. I would know that I am working the problem because bits and pieces would come to the forefront of my brain and I would then think about that. This would happen either when I needed to find more clarity on the problem or when I completed a section and needed to write it down. The first time I did this was in college when I took a programming class and we had 3 weeks to develop a very complex program. Everyone in the class worked day and night for those 3 weeks. I did not. I formulated the problem, periodically checked in and then the night before it was due, I sat in the computer room and punched out my cards. Other than a few errors, I was done in a few hours. I do not know how I do this, but I do know, I only do it for really complex, difficult things. I also 'know' that I will find a solution.

[wegge]

I don't know if this is what you are talking about but I have solved complex problems without overtly thinking about them. Instead, I consciously put the problem I am trying to solve in the back of my mind and let it stew. I don't consciously work the problem. Instead, I would just go about my normal life and barely think about the problem. I would know that I am working the problem because bits and pieces would come to the forefront of my brain and I would then think about that. This would happen either when I needed to find more clarity on the problem or when I completed a section and needed to write it down. The first time I did this was in college when I took a programming class and we had 3 weeks to develop a very complex program. Everyone in the class worked day and night for those 3 weeks. I did not. I formulated the problem, periodically checked in and then the night before it was due, I sat in the computer room and punched out my cards. Other than a few errors, I was done in a few hours. I do not know how I do this, but I do know, I only do it for really complex, difficult things. I also 'know' that I will find a solution.

I think what you are describing is subconsciously happening to many people, like the golden idea under the shower or during a walk. Yet your ability seems developed to a high degree and you use it consciously/on purpose.

It‘s not necessarily the technique I‘m describing (more so in the upcoming book than in the article) but since they‘re both about creativity in a sense, it’s fair to say they are similar.

[wegge]

I added the following paragraph to the article, after learning how Tesla applied his imagination to the discipline of thought experiments. Also the paragraph on thought experiments themselves got slightly updated:

"Happy Little Accidents

Of course Nikola Tesla, as we have seen, was no stranger to thought experiments either. And as with so many things in his life, he tried to transcend the rules of the game and stretch our idea of what’s normal and the sensitive thing to do. When he was 18 he spent about a year on a mountain, evading the military draft. This gave him a lot of time and stillness to think, which led to his mind wandering quite far out. John J. O’Neill writes in his Tesla biography “Prodigal Genius” about this time:

One of the plans was for the construction and operation of an under-ocean tube, connecting Europe and the United States, by which mail could be transported in spherical containers moved through the tube by water pressure. He discovered early in his calculations that the friction of the water on the walls of the tube would require such a tremendous amount of power to overcome it that it made the project totally impracticable. Since, however, he was working on the project entirely for his own amusement, he eliminated friction from the calculations and was then able to design a very interesting system of high-speed intercontinental mail delivery. The factor which made this interesting project impracticable-the drag of the water on the sides of the tube-Tesla was later to utilize when he invented his novel steam turbine.

So he ran a proper thought experiment and applied all the variables known to him. He realized that due to the water pressure it wouldn’t work out, so the thought experiment failed. Which is a good thing, because part of the definition of a thought experiment is that it needs to be falsifiable. The experiment can’t all just work out magically. This wouldn’t be scientific and we would never make any progress, right?

Well, Tesla didn’t only want to play the stiff science game, he wanted to have fun with his imagination. So he chose to ignore the water pressure problem and just let his invention work out in his inner vision! He had fun with his imagination. What did his willful ignorance of the laws of this universe lead to? His underwater tube never became a reality, but from playing around with this idea he got something which he later could use for his steam turbine.

This reminds me of another fact of (scientific) life. Things not adhering to the rules, not playing out as planned, has led us to sensational discoveries. As always, there is more, but here is a small list of accidental discoveries:

Penicillin, X-rays, tea bags, LSD, post-its and the pacemaker.

I hope this gives you inspiration for your own experiments. Happy mental experimenting, happy imagining, happy far out venturing!"