You know what thought did

“But, I thought…”

Whenever we uttered this as children, some adult or other would invariably reply, “Well, you know what thought did.” This was a very long-winded way of saying “shut up”,  but it worked. We were quiet. End of argument.

Then one day, when I was at university, walking along the road with a friend, we had a similar short conversation:
Me: But, I thought…
Her: Well, you know what thought did.
Me:  Everyone always says that! What did thought do, actually?
Her (deadpan expression):  Thought was a dog; followed a shit lorry, thought it was a hearse.

Cracked, sad, half-jokes are often very satisfactory as explanations for things you never knew and are never likely to know.

I tell you this because yesterday I said that I drew a thought map circa 1979, possibly before the term “thought map” (or “mind map”) had been coined. Or so I thought. And now – because I have just told you – you know  what thought did.

Wikipedia provides the information I should have researched yesterday. If the term “mind map” was first used publicly in 1974, then it is conceivable that I had not heard it five years later, living in a tiny country in the middle of Africa as I was at the time.

Whether anyone gave it a name millennia ago is anybody’s guess.  What is wonderful is that so many people from so very many different cultures have been drawing mind maps for centuries.  It is worth browsing through these Historical Examples of Mind Maps.

If this does not blow your mind, then you might just have enough energy to draw one of your own today.

Allison