ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

C-K theory

Okay, so there's this thing called c-k theory, which is a fancy way of saying it's a way to come up with new ideas or inventions.

Basically, c-k theory starts with two things, the "c" (which stands for concept) and the "k" (which stands for knowledge). The concept is like an idea or a problem you want to solve, and the knowledge is all the things you already know about it.

Then, you use c-k theory to come up with lots of different combinations of the concept and the knowledge, and use those to create new ideas or inventions. It's kind of like playing with Legos, where you take different pieces and put them together in different ways to make something new and cool.

For example, let's say your concept is to make a better way to recycle plastic. Your knowledge might be things like how plastic is made, what types of plastic are recyclable, and how recycling works. Using c-k theory, you could come up with lots of different combinations of the concept and the knowledge. Maybe you could use knowledge about how plastic is made to come up with a new kind of plastic that is easier to recycle. Or maybe you could use knowledge about how recycling works to come up with a new machine that sorts plastic more efficiently.

Overall, c-k theory is a way to use what you already know to come up with new ideas and solve problems in a creative way.