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Claude Shannon had some interesting thoughts about this. I summarized them below: 1. Reduce the problem to its most essential parts 2. Find related problems t

Claude Shannon had some interesting thoughts about this. I summarized them below: 1. Reduce the problem to its most essential parts 2. Find related problems that have already been solved 3. Restate the problem in as many different ways as possible 4. Generalize a solution to as many problems as possible. See where it can apply again. 5. Break large gaps between a problem and solution by solving a bunch of smaller problems (sometimes even in a roundabout way) and gradually piece yourself bit by bit towards the solution. 6. Invert the problem and solution http://www1.ece.neu.edu/~naderi/Claude%20Shannon.html http://www1.ece.neu.edu/~naderi/Claude%20Shannon.html

agumonkey 5y ago
Is it there that he describes being highly lazy and multitasking ? Having numerous projects started and working on them when inspiration kicks
pjm331 5y ago
Reminds me a lot of the list in a book I just started reading - G. Polya’s How to Solve It 1. Understand the problem 2. Devise a plan 3. Carry out the plan 4. Look back In particular when talking about devising the plan: “If you cannot solve the proposed problem try to solve first some related problem. Could you imagine a more accessible related problem? A more general problem? A more special problem? An analogous problem? Could you solve a part of the problem?...” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It
throw10920 5y ago
These are steps for solving a problem, which is very different from thinking. The former isn't very useful if you don't have a good idea of what the problem is or what the constraints on the solution are, both of which usually require thinking in order to get or refine. Moreover, the linked article isn't saying that problem-solving isn't being taught, or widespread - in fact, the authors probably thought that there was too much problem-solving and not enough thinking going around.

agumonkey 5y ago

Is it there that he describes being highly lazy and multitasking ? Having numerous projects started and working on them when inspiration kicks

pjm331 5y ago

Reminds me a lot of the list in a book I just started reading - G. Polya’s How to Solve It 1. Understand the problem 2. Devise a plan 3. Carry out the plan 4. Look back In particular when talking about devising the plan: “If you cannot solve the proposed problem try to solve first some related problem. Could you imagine a more accessible related problem? A more general problem? A more special problem? An analogous problem? Could you solve a part of the problem?...” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It

throw10920 5y ago

These are steps for solving a problem, which is very different from thinking. The former isn't very useful if you don't have a good idea of what the problem is or what the constraints on the solution are, both of which usually require thinking in order to get or refine. Moreover, the linked article isn't saying that problem-solving isn't being taught, or widespread - in fact, the authors probably thought that there was too much problem-solving and not enough thinking going around.