Recognition of juggling in practice in relation to cognitive development and creativity

Governance as "juggling" -- Juggling as "governance" (Part #6)

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A primary reason for the widespread current interest in the Triple Helix model is in terms of enabling innovation -- as facilitated by the interweaving of the agendas and practices of academia, industry and government. Less evident, as noted above, is the meaning to be associated with the "interweaving" (or "braiding") of themes, as it might be otherwise understood metaphorically, whatever the relational implications in practice.

The current period is one in which understandings of "correlative thinking", however defined, are considered valuable -- if not desperately needed. It is therefore appropriate to note recognition of a widespread juggling culture centered on the International Jugglers Association and enabled by the Juggling Information Service. It is in this sense that it is useful to explore recognition of the value of juggling for desirable cognitive development and creativity.

Cognitive development: It is however appropriate to note the kinds of studies of the role of juggling in practice in facilitating cognitive development as may be implied by the quest for innovation:

• Jeremy Dean: The Mental Benefits of Juggling (PsyBlog, July 2013)
• Jessica Hamzelou: Learning to juggle grows brain networks for good (New Scientist, 11 October 2009)
• Edson Filho, et al: The juggling paradigm: a novel social neuroscience approach to identify neuropsychophysiological markers of team mental models (Frontiers in Psychology, 2015)
• Juggling increases brain power (BBC News, 12 October 2009)
• J. F. M. Hugo and I. D. Couper: Teaching consultation skills using juggling as a metaphor (South African Family Practice, 8, 2006, 5, pp. 5-7)
• Raoul Huys, Andreas Daffertshofer, and Peter J. Beek: Multiple Time Scales and Multiform Dynamics in Learning to Juggle (Motor Control, 2004, 7, pp. 188-212)
• Vaughan Bell: Juggling can change brain structure within 7 days (MindHacks, 29 July 2008)

Juggling as a practice is of considerable interest to studies of cognitive development and neuroscience, notably in terms of a "juggling paradigm" (Petra Jansen, et al, The influence of juggling on mental rotation performance, Biomedical Human Kinetics, 3, 2011; U. Wolfensteller, Juggling with the brain: thought and action in the human motor system, Progress in Brain Brain Research, 174, 2009; Edson Filho, et al, The Juggling Paradigm, Frontiers in Psychology 6, 2015).

Certain aesthetic processes may be understood as a form of juggling. For the process of self-regulation to work and to facilitate the emergence of unforeseen patterns of order, any contribution must necessarily be complemented or offset in some way. This is exemplified in dance where the role of a "partner" acting in a complementary or even challenging "opposing" manner is essential to the interest of the whole. This is also evident in musical group improvisation (jamming) or dance (jam circle). Jamming is itself recognized as a valuable metaphor for group innovation (John Kao, Jamming: the art and discipline of business creativity, 1997).

Iconic scientists as jugglers: Especially intriguing are cases of iconic scientists renowned for their creativity -- but also for their playfullness, partially expressed in their enthusiasm for juggling. Frequently cited examples include:

• Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. Noted for arguing that: A theorist who can juggle different theories in his mind has a creative advantage when it comes time to change the theories.
• Ronald Graham, mathematician and and past president of the International Jugglers' Association. Known for declaring: Juggling is sometimes called the art of controlling patterns, controlling patterns in time and space.
• Claude Shannon, Mathematician, Engineer, Geniusâ-...and Juggler? (International Jugglers' Association, 18 August 2017)

It is not difficult to argue that this juggling facility in some way corresponded to their capacity to juggle the concepts which characterized the creativity for which they were otherwise recognized. There is of course a degree of irony to the manner in which their indulgence in such playfulness has typically been deprecated as "unserious" and "unworthy" of their academic renown.

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