Random word-association is a method of either
confusing psycho-analysts, or of tracing
thought patterns in your own or someone else's mind.
It also tends to be a rather amusing
time-wasting activity for social gatherings of
Happy Mutants.
You
begin by taking a word -- letting a dictionary fall open to a random page is good, or use a
random-word generator. Then, in 30 seconds, have each member of the group write down as many other
words,
phrases,
pictures, and
ideas as they can.
Pass around the results. You will notice that
some people will write down
stream-of-consciousness strings of ideas, whereas others will have all the ideas directly relate to the original word. These reflect two of the five general
methods of thinking described in
Piers Anthony's
Incarnations of Immortality novels: the first is a linear (-----) stream, whereas the second is a
creative stream ( *)