What is Idea Sex and What Does it Mean For You?

Steve Jobs used to do iconic interviews at the Recode conference.

He would answer tough questions and give updates on the technology industry.

What made his appearances special was his introduction of new Apple products.

One year, Steve gave an important update.

He said from here on out, users could listen to radio shows on the iPod.

‘When you combine iPod with Broadcast, you get Podcast,’ Steve said with joy.

No one in the audience understood what a big moment this was.

They probably thought this was equivalent to a software update for their phone.

But no.

“Podcast” is a common phrase now.

“Podcasting” is a common behavior now.

The media landscape would never be the same.

Individuals began their own radio shows.

The economy transformed.

Podcast hosts are pulling in millions from their shows.

A combination of iPod & Broadcast changed the world forever.

2 Ways to Get Idea Sex

Forget idea sex for a second.

Think about regular sex.

There are 2 predominant ways to get it.

The artificial way and the organic way.

Artificial: pay a person to have sex with you.

Organic: fall in love, then have sex.

Very similar to idea sex.

There’s the artificial route and the organic route.

By the way, don’t let the phrase ‘artificial’ jade your view.

I simply mean that intervention is required.

The artificial path requires more willpower.

Imagine that I say:

‘You have one year to find a connection between a Chapstick and a keyboard mouse.’

Could you do it?

Absolutely.

You are going in with the intention of finding a way to connect these different ideas.

There’s also the organic path.

This is when ideas organically cross combine & you are presented a revelation.

One of my first ever encounters with idea sex was when I created a thing called the articulation chamber.

In my book, Speak Easy, I shared an innovative method to build speaking skills.

But how was this method discovered?

It was discovered when 2 random facets of my life made eye contact.

• I go to the gym to work out my body.
• I run ArmaniTalks, which is a business that helps engineers & entrepreneurs improve their communication skills.

2 separate ideas.

One day, I was presented with the question:

• Why don’t we have a gym for communication skills?

A physical location to practice our speaking and writing skills.

You know what??

I should create something like that.

• Articulation Chamber = a segment of your living facility designed to improve communication skills.

Once you have your first idea sex moment, you realize a strange life irony:

The more ideas you create & the more ideas you are capable of creating.

Repetitions Lead to Revelations

In movies, we often see a lone inventor suddenly getting a light bulb moment while they are taking a shit.

This makes the consumer think:

‘I too will get a light bulb moment while taking a shit!’

But what the movie doesn’t show is how the lone inventor worked on the idea for a long time.

He presented his subconscious mind with what worked & what didn’t work.

• Data was collected.
• Data was processed.
• More data was collected.
• Eventually, the signal was extracted from the noise.
• And the light bulb moment (signal) was presented to the conscious mind.

Bottom line?

Repetitions led to the revelation.

I wrote roughly 200 blogs & 500 newsletters before I saw ideas randomly cross-combining to produce something new.

If you think you are just going to walk into cross-combining ideas, then you are mistaken.

Need to put in the legwork, homie.

Simple Systems -> Complex Systems

People who don’t put in the leg work have the “it just got there” mentality.

They see lamps, TVs, cars… and think these machines were always there.

Their views of ideas are simple.

People who work on ideas know the lamp didn’t just get there.

A bunch of ideas had to come in alignment to produce the lamp.

Their view of ideas is complex.

When we can perceive the complex, we build appreciation.

The more that you put in the leg work (create content, build things, troubleshoot things) the more you view ideas as complex systems rather than simple systems.

Even if the complex systems were never combined with other complex systems, it doesn’t take away from its own intricacies.

Think of a man and a woman.

• The man by himself is a complex entity with narratives, desires, accomplishments, and more.
• The woman by herself is a complex entity with narratives, desires, accomplishments, and more.

If the man and woman were to live the rest of their lives by themselves, they still are complex entities.

But if they decide to cross-combine, then they create another complex entity.

So, we want to start off by creating our own complex entities.

Don’t focus on the cross-combining of ideas until you have individual ideas that can stand on their own 2 feet.

Put in the work.

By the time they do artifically or organically connect, they’re capable of producing something new.

Something no one can predict…

The Intellectual Adventure

A lot of people have a defeatist attitude regarding content creation. They’re like:

‘Why even bother creating anything? All the great ideas have already been said.’

Is there some truth to this?

Maybe.

A lot of great ideas have been said.

But what has not been said are the individual paths to that idea.

Sure, the number 4 exists.

But there are different paths to the number 4.

• 1+3
• 2+2
• 5-1

We should be focusing on the path (aka: Our first-hand experiences) when thinking about content creation.

Once we see the different paths to create an idea, that’s when the adventure begins.

Which stand-alone idea am I going to create?

Which of these stand-alone ideas are going to combine?

How are they going to combine?

Create a world.

A world that is constantly evolving, interconnections are being formed, meaning is being generated, and profitability is being pursued.

For more insights into content creation & creativity, be sure to check out the ArmaniTalks free daily newsletter.

– ArmaniTalks