The Physics of Creativity

Almost every day I open my laptop and decide to create something on it. Whether continuing a project or starting something new, working alone or in a group, it all looks very 'samey' from the outside... But from the inside every session feels completely different. How can the same people, in the same place, working on the same project have such wildly varied outcomes over time? Because: the creative sweet-spot is a moving target.

Some collaborations just flow and others don't, but is the difference talent? Experience? Vibes? I think it comes down to is more than a crude notion of “compatibility” between people. The outcome of collaboration is determined by the feedback dynamics that emerge (not the static list of ingredients). Further, even when working alone, these same forces also govern collaboration with yourself across different mental states, across time, even across different aspects of your own personality.

So, how can we understand these dynamics? Like any good shape rotator would: by modelling them like differential equations! In this model, the parameters that govern the dynamics of creativity are: Trust (T), Energy (E), Clarity (ξ), Alignment (σ) and Momentum (ρ).

This lens emerged from my own creative work, from both the failures and successes. Many lessons come from my almost 20-year collaboration with Ricky through TwoPM Studio. Which is also where my “game of thoughts” originated. We've experienced the full range of each parameter, together.

All the parameters affect one another...

...and they compose multiplicatively. Thus, any parameter going to zero will zero out the entire creative process. Without clear communication, trust and alignment fall away. When alignment wavers, energy dissipates into noise rather than being channeled into momentum. Without trust, ideas cannot propagate freely.

The Parameters

Trust (T)

Trust is the willingness to accept ideas without defensive rejection or an overzealous filter. In groups, it's the comfort to be vulnerable with one another. In solo work, it's how freely your mind moves. High trust means your analytical side can accept wild inputs from your creative side without immediately crushing them.

Group: The writer's room where people pitch half-formed ideas without fear

Solo: Letting yesterday's insights guide today's work without self-critique

Energy (E)

The collective fuel. Who's got extra, who's running low, what's the burn rate? Some days you have it, some you don't. Don't confuse energy for progress. We need energy to question past decisions, to endure ambiguity and push through arguments. Your energy dictates how long you can maintain unstable imaginal states before they must crystallise. Don't waste it.

Group: Recognising when the group needs a pick-me-up vs. someone to quietly listen

Solo: Knowing when to push yourself vs when to rest and refuel (avoiding burnout)

Clarity (ξ)

Are we seeing the same idea-forms or talking past each other? Can you articulate what you discovered to your future self? Ideas must be sharp enough to test, fuzzy enough to morph into something new.

It never feels 'fun' to get serious about terminology and you can get a long way without it... but it will bite you.

Group: The moment everyone realises they've been using "the platform" to mean three different things

Solo: Picking up the feeling-trail you had last session from your notes and sketches

Alignment (σ)

We can point at the same dot horizon while taking different paths. Our perspectives may differ but, ultimately, creative values must align for a journey together. Ensuring today's exploration builds on yesterday's rather than contradicting it. All parts pulling in compatible, but not identical, directions.

Group: The startup where design and engineering run different loops but share the same product vision

Solo: When your morning ambitions align with your evening capabilities

Momentum (ρ)

Collective velocity protects us against individual wobbles. When the group's moving, one person's bad day doesn't derail everything. Build on yesterday's session instead of burning energy for an instantaneous pivot. Slowly building momentum allows us to use energy more efficiently over the journey.

Group: The band that can jam productively even when the drummer's distracted

Solo: Writing daily so each session builds on warm context, no cold starts

The Dynamics

I will leave it as an exercise to the reader to explore every possible dyad, triad and so on within the model, but here are some critical interactions in the phase-space:

Trust × Alignment

High trust + low alignment = creative chaos (the band jamming for hours, having fun but never finishing a song)

Low trust + high alignment = brittle execution (the team that ships on time but can't adapt when requirements change)

High both = flow state where group moves as one organism

Clarity × Alignment

High clarity + low alignment = everyone understands but wants different things (the painful meeting where the problem is clear but no one agrees on direction)

Low clarity + high alignment = moving together blindly (the startup pivoting on pure faith)

Need minimum clarity to even evaluate alignment

Trust × Clarity

High trust + low clarity = willing to explore confusion together (early brainstorming, following hunches)

Low trust + high clarity = understand each other but won't share real ideas (corporate meetings where everyone knows the problem but speaks in euphemisms)

Trust enables staying in low-clarity spaces long enough for breakthrough

Momentum × Energy

High momentum + low energy = coasting on past success until crash

Low momentum + high energy = spinning wheels, lots of activity no progress

Momentum preserves energy; energy builds momentum

These parameters map to emergent dynamics of how our brains actually work in practice. Trust reflects literal permeability between neural regions. Your cortical columns vote on what surfaces to consciousness, based on the clarity of the result. Sometimes, your hemispheres don't seem particularly aligned. Thought spirals like rumination or mania? They're runaway feedback loops.

One Parameter To Rule Them All?

Based on my experience: not all the parameters are created equal. Trust is the master parameter—it is the precondition for everything else. You can have instant breakthroughs in clarity or alignment through good conversation, but only if trust is already present. Without trust, those conversations can't even happen.

Trust has brutal physics: it builds slowly through regular deposits but can be destroyed in an instant. One defensive reaction, one betrayal, one moment of using someone's vulnerability to get your way—and you're back to square one (or worse).

This asymmetry explains why psychological safety isn't a "nice to have" for authentic creativity, it's the foundation. This applies doubly in solo work. You must trust your past self's insights, your future self's capabilities, and most critically you must listen to the weird outputs from your unconscious without judgement.

Beyond "Flow"

These parameters exist in a larger context: our lives. We bring our whole selves into creative collaboration whether we want to or not.

Trust is affected by your general paranoia level, your comfort with vulnerability, and how your last betrayal is healing

Energy depends on sleep, nutrition, exercise, and whether you're pushing hard elsewhere

Clarity improves with meditation, journaling, conversation and any practice that sharpens self-articulation

Alignment requires knowing your own values, which comes from deep personal experience

Momentum is influenced by frequency, rituals, friendship and how you bridge between sessions

Self-discovery isn't separable from creative work—it IS the work. Your ability to create is bounded by your personal practices. Knowing yourself is equivalent to honing your tools.

Finding a homeostatic equilibrium amongst these dynamics takes a lot of practice but it has also been one of the most rewarding efforts of my entire life. Creating the preconditions for creativity, curiosity and connection is an art, not a science. It's miracle farming.

✌️ Ben

What I’ve been thinking about

Emissary’s Guide to Worlding

TEN MANIFESTOS FOR GROUPS OF NO PEOPLE

The Extended Mind

Schemas are a hack

What if OpenDocument Used SQLite?

Operator-Based Machine Intelligence: A Hilbert Space Framework for Spectral Learning and Symbolic Reasoning

A-MEM: Agentic Memory for LLM Agents

Decoding Claude Code