Spend time thinking about it. It’s something that seems obvious, but I know I pass over it more than I should. Since answers seem to come unconsciously it’s tempting to just wait for a solution to arise and to go think about other things. Unless you keep the problem in your head during down-time, before going to bed, in the shower, taking a walk etc… then you won’t be processing for an answer. It’s tricky to coax subconscious thoughts to answer the questions you want, but continual conscious thought on the topic is the most straight forward approach in my experience. If you’re thinking about other things, you won’t get an answer.
Agreed. I tend to have moments of insight not immediately after starting to think about something, but a few hours later as I continue to mull over it throughout my day to day affairs. You never know when something is just going to click, but you do know when it’s not going to click—when you’re not thinking about it.
I would also stress the importance of actually listening to what other people have to say and considering it with an open mind. I think people tend to get stuck on a certain train of thought—many mind games and puzzles take advantage of this by presenting a problem that seems impossible given the assumptions that most people make to begin with. Solving the problem requires finding the false assumption, but this is often hard to do. If you happen to go down a dead end when answering a hard question, genuinely considering other people’s arguments might help you to identify you error and put you on the right track.
Nice points. I’d also add;
Spend time thinking about it. It’s something that seems obvious, but I know I pass over it more than I should. Since answers seem to come unconsciously it’s tempting to just wait for a solution to arise and to go think about other things. Unless you keep the problem in your head during down-time, before going to bed, in the shower, taking a walk etc… then you won’t be processing for an answer. It’s tricky to coax subconscious thoughts to answer the questions you want, but continual conscious thought on the topic is the most straight forward approach in my experience. If you’re thinking about other things, you won’t get an answer.
Agreed. I tend to have moments of insight not immediately after starting to think about something, but a few hours later as I continue to mull over it throughout my day to day affairs. You never know when something is just going to click, but you do know when it’s not going to click—when you’re not thinking about it.
I would also stress the importance of actually listening to what other people have to say and considering it with an open mind. I think people tend to get stuck on a certain train of thought—many mind games and puzzles take advantage of this by presenting a problem that seems impossible given the assumptions that most people make to begin with. Solving the problem requires finding the false assumption, but this is often hard to do. If you happen to go down a dead end when answering a hard question, genuinely considering other people’s arguments might help you to identify you error and put you on the right track.