Being sensible is overrated

“No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.” [WH Auden]

Just on my way back from my first ever visit to the Royal Opera House, London (for an opera – I saw President Clinton speaking there once). The plot of La Traviata has more holes than a magic flute. Auden’s reflection on opera reminds us that sensibleness, rationality, logic and seriousness are not the stuff of generating creative ideas. Playfulness, silliness, absurdity and irrational imagination are the essence of idea generation in creative thinking.