i.e., beyond the limits of convention but Kekulé managed to. See also how Eric Thompson and his colleagues dealt with the problem of Mayan decipherment section 11.3. They had gotten into a rut they
couldn’t get out of. When they discussed things they did not allow all kinds of questions. There were some questions which they ridiculed, and these kept them in their box
5 Intuition
5.1 The subconscious and relaxation
Work intensely on the problem and then abandon it and relax. Give yourself freedom from this and other conflicting interests, and also freedom from interruptions; then a solution may often appear. It seems as
if your subconscious sorts things out. All kinds of top scientists advocate this But also remember what Pasteur said: “Chance favours the prepared mind” see section 2.
5.2 Allow time
You need time in your program for intuition to work for you. Don’t despise it, because it is extremely valuable. And you need time to meditate if you want bright ideas. If you try too hard you may reach a
state of mental blockade, because you are too tired or too tense.
5.3 Bright ideas
Write your bright ideas down because they can disappear very quickly. Regard this as a very high priority.
5.4 Complement your consultee
In terms of intuition versus organization, a consultant needs to be a complement to the consultee. If they can’t organise, you need to help them to organise. On the other hand, if they can’t intuit, you need to
help them do that. Don’t assume that people can do everything without help. The best of us need help in some things.
6 Observation
Data is extremely complex and often confused and messy. It is impossible to see everything. What can we see? What do we need to see? How can we optimise? What follows are some important considerations on
various aspects of observation.
6.1 We are most likely to see just the things we look for.
Often this means the things we are trained to look for, or what our hypothesis says should be there, or what we expect to see, or what has been foreseen. For instance, see the different interpretations of the
following skeleton diagram of a cube.
This could be regarded as a picture of: three sets of parallel intersecting lines,
some kind of irregular polygon, a transparent box,
a wire framed cube, an open box,
a glass paper weight, or an ice cube.
Wittgenstein would say that we see it as the way we have chosen because we have seen organisation in the picture.
6.2 Seeing as
