Synthesis 1.0
In Molière’s play, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, the protagonist (one M. Jourdain) announces—to his astonishment—that he has been speaking prose all his life. He just had not realized it!
Many of us could say the same thing about “synthesis.” It’s a formidable word, not uttered that often, not that easy to define—but (like prose) it’s a vital part of living. According to the first entry in the dictionary, synthesis denotes putting things—particularly ideas or elements—into some kind of a coherent system. Simple examples include the original Greek meaning of the word—piecing parts of a garment together, or an infant’s coming to understand that objects can be hidden from sight and yet they will reliably reappear.
Whatever our life stage, our residence, our daily routines, or our line of work, we need to carry out syntheses—whether or not we are aware of them or think of them as such. Consider how one plans for a trip or a holiday, prepares a celebratory meal, or, less happily, arranges a memorial service, or chooses an outfit for a job interview or for one’s wardrobe for the first semester in college. Each of these enterprises involves arranging and rearranging elements so that they make a coherent or, at least a tenable, whole. Of course, syntheses differ in how well composed they are, how effective they are, and how useful they prove for future challenges or opportunities.
So far, I’ve described quite simply forms of synthesis. Of course, there are more complex examples as well—for example, drawing on concepts from biology and mathematics to explain a phenomenon in medicine, or bringing historical and scientific information to bear on the writing of a novel. We might call these Big Syntheses. In other blog posts in this series, I’ve been describing striking examples of Big Syntheses. But in what follows, I focus on the elements of ordinary or “little” synthesizing.
Given the importance—as well as the ubiquity of synthesizing—it’s striking how little systematic knowledge we have of the processes involved in synthesizing and how little formal instruction exists on how to synthesize well.
Let me suggest two different—indeed contrasting—reasons for this puzzling state of affairs. On the one hand, little synthesis is so common, so ubiquitous, that (shades of M. Jourdain’s belated appreciation of prose) we take it for granted—just as we unreflectively digest food, or jog along a path, or choose clothing for a day alone at home. On the other hand, Big Syntheses coalesce over a significant period of time and, accordingly, it’s not easy to replicate them in a laboratory experiment. Not surprisingly, we psychologists prefer to study processes that can be more easily captured—like memorizing a random list of words, or assembling blocks so that they match a target pattern.
But people do synthesize, many of us get better at synthesis, and a few of us manage to accomplish Big Syntheses. If synthesizing is not explicitly modeled or taught, how do we go about doing it? And how do we improve our performances?
I assume that some of us proceed by trial and error; some of us look for published or posted materials (how to memorize words more effectively, or how to “ace” an IQ test); and some of us (probably a majority) go about synthesizing much in the manner of influential role models. Half a century after the death of my grandparents, and years after the death of my parents, I organize my life very much as my close relatives did; and half a century after leaving graduate school, I go about studying and writing on different topics (including books and essays about synthesizing) in a manner reminiscent of my teachers and mentors.
But take note: I don’t believe that any of these role models ever used a term like “synthesis,” and I don’t remember any of them pointing out how they went about synthesizing. They just did it—well or not so well. I regularly observed what they did, and in my own fashion emulated them.
To wit:
My grandfather worked out ideas on a daily walk and so do I.
My grandmother wrote poems to mark family events and so do I.
My father kept daily “to-do” lists and so do I—with a vengeance!
My mother assembled people of varying skills and dispositions to carry out diverse missions and so do I.
My mentor, Jerome Bruner, conducted research meetings in certain ways and so do I.
My adviser, Roger Brown, wrote textbook chapters in a certain style that I have sought to emulate.
And now that I have grown children and growing grandchildren, I can sometimes observe that they synthesize in the way that I’ve done—or perhaps, by deliberately rejecting me as a role model.
But need synthesizing proceed in such a “catch-as-catch can” fashion? Could we teach it or model it more explicitly? And, if we could, would life proceed more smoothly, more satisfyingly, and even more effectively?
I believe that the answer is a resounding “yes!”
Here are the ingredients for my (so far virtual) synthesizing kit:
Conceptualize the problem, the project, the enterprise (large or small)
Identify a starting point(s)
Envision the shape of the likely end product(s)—(more than one possibility is likely)
Search for good (and not so good) models of the final product
Reflect on the means and media at one’s disposal—these include drawing on your own favored intelligences and your customary style of work (and play)
Activate these means and these media as you proceed from starting point to final synthesis
Identify, collect, and evaluate relevant information, data, ideas—while discarding those that seem inappropriate (this should occur deliberately but often desired information will appear without your conscious efforts)
Create drafts, sketches, portfolios in symbol systems with which you are comfortable (numerous configurations are available—charts, grids, tables, metaphors, narratives, formulas, diagrams equations, etc.)
Arrange elements in different configurations, searching for fits and lack thereof
Prepare and issue a proto-synthesis—a first draft, so to speak
Secure informal feedback from possible “consumers” of the end product
Lay out a penultimate draft, a “fair sample” of the final product
Craft the final synthesis on the basis of feedback from others, especially experts (critical friends)
Of course, this kit is more than one would need if one were planning a weekend holiday; but if one were planning a year’s trip around the world, it would be appropriate. It’s important to distinguish between little synthesis, middle synthesis, and Big Synthesis.
I wish you “good synthesizing!”