A Toolbox of Heuristics

Boden M (1990)
The Creative Mind;
Abacus ISBN 0415314534

For more on this topic click HERE

A heuristic is a form of mental laziness. It is a way of thinking about a problem which follows a well known path which usually leads to a desirable end point. Most people have a very limited number of heuristics in their mental toolboxes. This means that they tend always to do things in the same way. They tend to talk in clichés and they are often thought of as being stuck in a rut.

Most heuristics take 'common sense' and 'reality' for granted. This is not too much of a problem in an unchanging environment, especially if a person can call upon many different heuristics depending on the situation in which he happens to find himself.

Other heuristics, however, can be used to deliberately undermine 'common sense' and the conventional view of 'reality'. These latter types of heuristic are among the key tools for critical thinking and creativity.

This article lists a range of heuristics covering three major categories - those which deal with explanation and definition, those which deal with procedures, and, lastly, those which can be used to systematically try and get out of ruts. Some of the heuristics are very down to earth whilst others are more sophisticated. Most of the ideas are drawn from Boden (1990) .

Explanations

	Explain it to your granny
	Explain it through mime
	Say it with pictures
	Give the fuzzy idea (emerging concept) a name (eg mentifact 16b)
	Draw a semantic map of the idea
	Write a script for two people discussing the idea
	Define the frame of the idea using Venn Diagrams
	Define the units associated with the concept
	Define the linkages between the units

Procedures

General

	Focus on the structures·
	Focus on the functions·
	Sort the substance before the form (giving attention to details)

Logical

	State your axioms & assumptions
	What is the evidence?
	What are the unknowns?
	State the argument as a logic equation
	What would prove this to be wrong?

Structural

	Devise a matrix of categories
	Break it into smaller steps
	Restate the problem
	Ignore a constraint & argue again

Skills

	State the implicit rules
	Describe your procedural rules
	List the rules you are and are not using

Note that your psychological condition affects the way in which you think. To get to grips with this you can (a) state the root of your exploratory impulse and (b) notice what you are and are not noticing.

Norm Cracking

	State the history of the concept
	Describe it from a different point of view
	Match it with similar problems
	Use an analogy (it is like a frog because ...)
	Run the argument backwards
	Brainstorm the concept
	Try to distort the conceptual map
	Engage in lateral thinking
	Give in to panic about the issue
	Calm yourself down & be cool about it