On Calculated Spontaneity and Spontaneous Calculations

It's not a totally new concept. In fact, just using Google Search gives you an approximate of 494,000* hits on those keywords alone. (Accessed: 30 August 2010, 09:32PM )

That aside, nobody seems to really offer an extensive description of what this oxymoron really means.


Is inception, as the blockbuster movie suggested, possible? Theoretically, probable. But nevertheless achievable. In the same way, calculated spontaneity is theoretically possible.

To perform spontaneous calculations would require a certain degree of giftedness. Like when someone randomly exclaims a 10-digit number and a gifted kid would blurt out its prime number. The split-second logic-bending calculation is in fact so natural to the child that he merely shrugs it off, like breathing.

On the other hand, calculated spontaneity is theoretically possible through extreme subconscious in-depth analysis. This can be born from either pure talent or genius. Or simply from extensive experience and practice. Take the chess player for example: high-level players are said to automatically predict at least 20 moves in advance.

Is it possible to still think when you're driving the roller coaster train? Speed Racer makes it seem true. Wanna try?

Also in a high-speed car race, the sheer velocity borders on spontaneous reflexes - yet within those moments, subconscious calculations exists beyond the realms of cognitive perception, drawing past experiences while assessing the situation and making muscles move along with the minute decisions that may either mean life or death to the driver.

But the existence of calculated spontaneity is not limited only to such extreme conditions. In fact, it can be possible with everyday life - albeit unknowingly. From impulsive shopping to a spontaneous witty remark or joke, each act and behavior involves an imperceptible amount of reference from past experiences coupled with subconscious inference to underlying personal principles based on learnings from trial and error.

Which begs us the question: Is anything in life truly spontaneous?