We have already encountered several examples of the Replacement Template, for instance
1. Edison’s legendary gate which forced his guests to activate his private water pump.
2. A keyboard of a portable computer which transforms mechanical energy (from the user’s fingers) to charge the battery.
3. The Wirefree device which uses the loudspeakers from a car’s radio system to improve the sound quality of the cellular phone.
4. Antenna pole in which the ice that accumulated in the environment was used to increase its sturdiness.
One abstract structure surfaces from all of the above ideas, based on their underlying code – harnessing existing resources from the immediate environ-ment to replace a product component which fulfills the same needed function.
Another such code may be extracted from the following illustrations.
The Replacement Template creates a link between a resource (material, energy or a phenomenon) existing in the environment and a role that requires fulfillment. Thus, the system saves resources while it becomes more
“compact.” In most cases two existing components are connected, but we must remember that systems undergoing Replacement are likely to be consid-ered creative even when no resources are saved.
In this chapter we will present the structure of this template in detail and suggest the best way to implement it. To illustrate its generalization let us look at some examples before we provide a complete formulation of the Replacement Template.
99
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
SETI is the name of a project that is searching for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Radio frequency waves are received, recorded and analyzed to see whether some order can be identified to indicate the existence of intelligent society in space. The required computing resources were much greater than those avail-able to the research workers. A solution to this problem was to harnesses the power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Anyone can participate by running a screensaver-like program on his or her personal computer (PC) that down-loads and analyzes radio-telescope data. Thus, the individual PC computation resources are harnessed to the task of analyzing a huge amount of data, which is returned to SETI for further analysis and coding. The screensaver is pre-sented in Figure 6.1. How similar would you consider this structure to that of Edison’s gate and the idea of energy extraction in the portable computer? Bear in mind the benefits associated with the close-to-zero costs of adopting these resources in the three cases (unless, of course, some of Edison’s guests turned away from a visit, or some PC users are constantly distracted by the SETI graphs on their “screensavers”).
Figure 6.1 SETI Screensaver.
Doors in cars
The door hinges of most cars today are situated at the front (see Figure 6.2).
Why does the door of the car not open in the direction of exit of the passen-ger, so as to make it easier to get in and out? The reason here is safety. The designer wanted to prevent the door opening while the car is in motion, espe-cially at high speed when there is a danger that a passenger might be tossed out. Instead of building a safety device which would shut the door if it opens in mid-drive, the air current is used to apply pressure on the door and prevent it from opening widely. The existing resource is the air pressure.
Replacement in Russian theater
In some theaters in Russia there is no curtain. When the scenery needs to be changed during the performance, the stage is lit by projectors at a certain angle (see Figure 6.3). The reflection of light from the air particles creates a kind of halo, preventing the viewers from seeing the stage. This halo serves as a cheap curtain, since the projectors exist in the theater in any case.
All these ideas which once were novel and surprising, although from remote fields of expertise, share the same general structure that was presented above – the Replacement Template. In order to understand the required thought dynamics and become acquainted with the unique features of this Template let us examine a hypothetical problem
Figure 6.2 Direction of opening of car doors as a safety device, to prevent opening while in motion.
A flat tire in the wrong place and time
Let us examine the following problem: a driver on a deserted road at midnight suddenly notices a puncture in one of the wheels. When she tries to change the wheel, she realizes that the nuts and bolts have rusted to a point where she cannot open them with her tools.
Here are some ideas for solving the problem, along with an assessment of their creativity, gleaned from 20 groups who handled this problem (Table 6.1).
The second column in the table marks the proximity between the existing resource and the wheel. The solution of using a mobile phone, for example, may be practical and immediate. However, it is hardly creative, as the phone is far from the content world of a change of wheel. Also, this solution is not always practical, as it will not help those not owning a mobile phone. The idea of catching a ride is similar to that of the mobile phone: if the road is deserted, it is not relevant; and if cars were driving past, the idea would arise without the need for creative thinking. Note the reverse relationship between the dis-tance of the resource from the content world of the problem and the level of creativity of the solution: the more distant the resource, the less creative it will be considered.
Although both conventional ideas mentioned might help the driver, most of them do not solve the problem we have raised: they may aid the driver in con-tinuing on her way, but the wheel has not been changed. Let us examine other ideas that try to tackle the problem directly. The idea of using oil from the engine or the brakes to oil the bolts so that they will come “unstuck” was ranked high by the group members, and received the proximity rating
“medium.” Note that such an idea already belongs to the content world of the car.
Figure 6.3 A halo of light as a substitute for a theater curtain.
If we accept the principle that the nearer we draw, in the search for a solution, to the core of the problem, the higher the “grading” in creativity, then elements from the content world of changing a wheel should be good candidates for a creative solution. Let us look at the solution of using the jack: this tool comes from the world of changing a wheel, and is an interesting candidate for a solu-tion. The idea suggests that we use the jack (an existing resource) to exert force to turn the crossbar. The jack can exert much force (it is designed to lift a car), and we may therefore be able to break loose the rusty bolts. Once the bolts have been loosened the jack can be used in its original role of lifting the car for changing the wheel.
We may deduce from Table 6.1 and from the above discussion that the most creative solutions are those found “at hand,” i.e., near to the content world of the problem. This is the reason why many times, when a creative idea is pre-sented to us, we mumble, “Why didn’t I think of that before?” Again, we find that creativity is about an intelligent search among a limited list of possibil-ities. In Attribute Dependency we searched the list for two suitable (unrelated) variables; in Replacement, we will look among the components (in the imme-diate environment) for one that may fulfill the required role and aid us in reaching a solution.
The principle that connects the proximity of the solution resource to the core of the problem and perceived creativity was discovered by Maimon and Horowitz [1]. They reported two sufficient conditions for inventive solutions in the context of technological problem-solving, one of which is the “close world condition.” According to the close world condition, only certain prede-fined resources that are present in the proximity deprede-fined by a system may be considered in the search for an inventive solution. In our framework the close
Table 6.1 Ideas for solving the problem of changing a wheel
Idea Proximity Creativity
Using mobile phone to get help Far Low
Catching a ride in order to get home Far Low
Using pipe to lengthen crossbar (increase leverage) Medium Medium
Using oil from engine or brakes to clean rust Medium Medium
Backing up with crossbar on bolt to increase force Medium Medium Attaching the jack to the crossbar to help turn it Near High Raising the car, placing stone between crossbar and ground, Near High
then lowering bar over it to add force
world is not dichotomous, rather, creative perception can be viewed as smooth effect. The closer the resource to the product, the more creative it is perceived.
Here is another example to clarify our point. Imagine that an open field was set on fire. If we had fire engines, fire extinguishers, blankets or sand-pails, we would use them to extinguish the fire. These are all conventional solutions and, being so efficient and familiar, they are not considered creative. In certain cases, when no other means is available for extinguishing the fire, we might use an existing resource – the fire itself. Farmers sometimes burn a thorn-field, and the scorched earth serves as a partition stopping the spread of the fire.
This is a more elegant and creative idea, because it uses a resource in close proximity to the problem: it is in fact the problem itself.
The Replacement Template is based on the replacement of a resource or component existing in the system or in its immediate environment in order to fulfill a necessary role.
Replacement Template in nature
An interesting story illustrating the Replacement Template is that of the hermit crab. This tiny crab is not equipped with a hard shell and it is therefore prone to attack from various predators, who may easily enjoy its soft meat. In order to solve this problem, nature “uses” the Replacement Template.
This crab, living by the sea, houses itself in the empty shells of oysters or snails that are plentiful all around it. As it grows, it extracts itself from the shell and searches for a larger one. Thus, the hermit crab uses resources available in its natural environment to serve a role crucial for its survival.