Week 3
At this point, you will probably realize these posts are not exactly chronological, but, I only just recently have had time to update it!
In week 3 I was in fact absent but from what I gather from the course outline is, the class was on convergent thinking.
Convergent thinking is more specific and refined thought process. I googled convergent thinking and opened up the link to the all knowing wikipedia. Basically, characteristics of convergent thinking are speed, accuracy and logic, and is often used to aid in decision making in order to make the most accurate and best decision.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergent_thinking
Convergent thinking isn't commonly associated with the fine arts as divergent thinking is, although, it is often used in conjunction with divergent thinking. Artists tend to have quite a few ideas and the creative block tends to develop when they cant choose. It's great to have so many ideas but when you cant even choose one, well. this can be very unsettling and this is where convergent thinking comes into play. By using this thought process an artists can then eliminate the ideas they feel are weak and develop the ones they like and finally end up with one idea they have developed strongly and can then start to create.
I think convergent and divergent thinking processes are both fantastic methods, although these thought processes used isolated from each other tend to not be as effective as when they are used in conjunction with each other.