The Benefits of Writing it Down

[ghoti]

Do you ever come here to ask for advice on a technique and, in the act of writing down your exact difficulty with the concept, you figure out the answer yourself? Just happened to me there.

Trying to articulate a problem to someone else can be half the battle in solving it. This is actually a daily occurrence in my work (which is basically a problem-solving job) but I've never really thought of it like this before, I guess at work we just do it on autopilot.

Anyway, I don't know what I'm trying to say here. I guess the message is that you shouldn't just throw up an image and say "how do I do this?" Try to articulate why it is that you can't see how it's done. You may find you don't even need to post the thread in the end; and it's a lot more satisfying.

 

[DrGed]

I think you're right. The human mind is a very strange thing. Different things seem to work for different people. I often find a solution comes along when I stop trying to think too hard. I have known fellow mathematicians who, when struggling with a problem, have woke up at stupid o'clock with the answer.

It may be that articulating the problems forces you to describe the problem in a more disciplined way which, somehow, helps your thought processes. Anyway, if it works for you, do it!

 

[posiview]

Yup, works for me and I'm sure there is empirical evidence to support it.

Also, if you tell someone something and ask them to repeat it back they are more likely to remember it.

Cheers.