My Interests with "C"-words

I thought of a new way of my self-introduction, when preparing presentation slides for a conference last week. It is the self-introduction with using only words beginning with "C". Reflecting my research for past 15 years, I found that there are several C-words related to my research.

Okay, now let me show.

First keyword is "Computation". I have engaged in computational sciences, for example, combinational optimization with artificial neural networks, econometrics, computer simulation, and network analysis. Beyond just using computers as an end-user, I have developed several software programs including scientific tools, community ware, and games. The associated words are "Component" as building block for modeling and thinking, "Constructivism" for scientific understanding and learning, and "Connected" to others via cyberspace.

Second keyword is "Complexity". My first book (1998) was about complexity and complex systems, which is written when I was master-course student. The words associated to the concept of complexity are "Chaos", "Contingency", and "Collective". Chaos is quite fascinating phenomena which the unexpected irregular patterns are emerged from simple deterministic laws. Contingency means that things or events do not occurred necessarily nor at random. Then, collectiveness implies there are interactions among elements.

Third keyword is "Creativity". I'm interested in what goes on in creative process and also how one can enhance their creativity. I sometimes invent totally new ideas and think in a different way from others, so I seem be considered as "creative" person. While I don't know whether I am really creative, I'm interested in my thinking process when I create something new. Based on my experience, abstraction to "Concept" is quite important. As Daniel Pink called an emerging creative age "conceptual age", conceptualization is getting to be more important. At the same time, "Cultivation" through prototyping, experiment and improvement of idea is important. Furthermore, in today's society, creative process by more than one person, namely "Collaboration", is important.

Thus, my major keywords are "Computation", "Complexity", and "Creativity". My studies have been done based on these keywords. This is spiral process rather than linear process. You might find a big "C" in the spiral process.

Finally, as an aside, my favorites in daily life can be also shown as C-words: "Cafe", "Camera", and "Cute Characters" :-)