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It's amazing - you get organised and focus on a problem and somehow you are better able to work out a solution. This is a 'hack'? Looks more like common sense

It's amazing - you get organised and focus on a problem and somehow you are better able to work out a solution. This is a 'hack'? Looks more like common sense and avoiding procrastination to me. I know this sounds snarky, but attributing the word 'hack' to this is just sexing up something people have been doing since forever. Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic

hexagonc 14y ago
No, what the article seems to be talking about is almost exactly the opposite of what you are saying. Yes, getting organized and focusing on a problem is a good start but the article is talking about a way to get creative ideas when facing hard problems. Specifically, the idea is not to focus on a problem directly. It is sort of a lateral thinking strategy where instead of attacking the problem by banging down the front door, you instead try to find a side entrance. Last week, I was working on a very tough puzzle and trying to attack it directly with just pure concentration wasn't working. I just kept getting into a loop and couldn't make any further progress. The solution didn't come until the next day after I had stopped thinking about the problem and involved a very different strategy. Another thing I've noticed is that solutions that come this way are almost always more elegant than solutions that come from raw conscious effort, even when both methods solve the problem.
- dave1619 14y ago
  Wow, I think you may have articulated it more clearly than that author (me). It really is about "raw conscious effort"(that you mentioned) vs a passive subconscious state. The raw conscious effort is head on but the passive subconscious state is looking at it from different angles that your raw conscious is not able to generate itself.
bgilroy26 14y ago
I agree that the practical steps the article proposes aren't mind-blowing. On the other hand, if you look at the title of the post and the way the issue is framed: >In fact, it was painfully difficult. And I was struck with a flood of emotions: fear, anxiety, despair, etc. I just wanted to sleep and not deal with it. I think it's pretty clear that what you're "hacking" isn't the task, its the anxiety. Sure, there are people out there who don't get overwhelmed by the challenges that they face. But if you've ever spent time tutoring, you know that it is remarkable how often your charge has not presented his or herself with the facts of the matter at hand and reviewed what they already know. If you're in a frame of mind where you are procrastinating out of anxiety, telling yourself "just look at it" can lower the bar and make it possible to move forward.

hexagonc 14y ago

No, what the article seems to be talking about is almost exactly the opposite of what you are saying. Yes, getting organized and focusing on a problem is a good start but the article is talking about a way to get creative ideas when facing hard problems. Specifically, the idea is not to focus on a problem directly. It is sort of a lateral thinking strategy where instead of attacking the problem by banging down the front door, you instead try to find a side entrance. Last week, I was working on a very tough puzzle and trying to attack it directly with just pure concentration wasn't working. I just kept getting into a loop and couldn't make any further progress. The solution didn't come until the next day after I had stopped thinking about the problem and involved a very different strategy. Another thing I've noticed is that solutions that come this way are almost always more elegant than solutions that come from raw conscious effort, even when both methods solve the problem.

dave1619 14y ago
Wow, I think you may have articulated it more clearly than that author (me). It really is about "raw conscious effort"(that you mentioned) vs a passive subconscious state. The raw conscious effort is head on but the passive subconscious state is looking at it from different angles that your raw conscious is not able to generate itself.

bgilroy26 14y ago

I agree that the practical steps the article proposes aren't mind-blowing. On the other hand, if you look at the title of the post and the way the issue is framed: >In fact, it was painfully difficult. And I was struck with a flood of emotions: fear, anxiety, despair, etc. I just wanted to sleep and not deal with it. I think it's pretty clear that what you're "hacking" isn't the task, its the anxiety. Sure, there are people out there who don't get overwhelmed by the challenges that they face. But if you've ever spent time tutoring, you know that it is remarkable how often your charge has not presented his or herself with the facts of the matter at hand and reviewed what they already know. If you're in a frame of mind where you are procrastinating out of anxiety, telling yourself "just look at it" can lower the bar and make it possible to move forward.