Insight Archives
Insight
Thirteen smoke jumpers died in the Mann Gulch fire [August 5, 1949]. White crosses below the ridge still mark the spots where the men died. But after several terrifying minutes [Wag] Dodge emerged from the ashes.
. . .
[Mark Jung-Beeman] recommends that, if we're stuck on a difficult problem, it's better to set the alarm clock a few minutes early so that we have time to lie in bed and ruminate.
. . .
One of the surprising lessons of this research is that trying to force an insight can actually prevent the insight.
. . .
Concentration, it seems, comes with the hidden cost of diminished creativity. "There's a good reason Google puts Ping-Pong tables in their headquarters," [John] Kounios said. "If you want to encourage insights, then you've got to also encourage people to relax."
"The Eureka Hunt: Why do good ideas come to us when they do?" by Jonah Lehrer, The New Yorker, July 28, 2008
Hat tip: Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution
Compare and discuss "terrifying" and "relax".
See "The Big Lebowski."
More
- Mann Gulch fire of 1949 - from Wikipedia
- "Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn't Be Won," by Richard Rothermel,General Technical Report INT-299, US Forest Service, May 1993 (14-page pdf )
- Mark Jung Beeman, Northwestern University
- John Kounios, Drexel University
- Earl K. Miller, MIT
- Jonathan D. Cohen, Princeton
July 24, 2008 04:47 PM Caught Our Eye