Authors don’t create fiction from nothing; they combine existing ideas in new ways. When J.K. Rowling created Harry Potter, she drew from universal themes like magic, heroism, and good versus evil—concepts that have existed for centuries. These elements were reassembled into a unique narrative that feels both new and familiar. This process illustrates the “Idea of Ideas,” showing how fiction is crafted by reconfiguring timeless concepts into novel forms.
Exploring the boundaries of creativity not only stretches the limits of imagination but also deepens our wisdom about human potential and the nature of reality.
In “30 Philosophers,” I put it this way:
“All fiction exists within the material world and is therefore limited to and by it. Our imaginations are vast and originate from the possible. Irrational ideas are works of fiction and come from blending real things. Put simply, irrational ideas are made up of two or more ideas that break down to rational and/or empirical ideas. Through conceptual blending, we fuse ideas together, but not from a void, because we are explorers, not deities.”
2For more on categorizing ideas, if you haven’t read it yet, take the 18-minute deep dive: The Idea of Ideas.
