There's an excellent article in the July 28th issue of The New Yorker called "The Eureka Hunt" by Jonah Lehrer (unfortunately only
the abstract is available online). The article explores what makes the discovery of an insight unique, how is it different from solving a problem through brute logic. Lehrer interviewed several neuroscientists who have been studying what actually happens in the brain when we have an Aha! moment.
The insight process, as sketched by Jung-Beeman and Kounios, is a delicate mental balancing act. At first, the brain lavishes the scarce resource of attention on a single problem. But, once the brain is sufficiently focused, the cortex needs to relax in order to seek out the more remote association in the right hemisphere which will provide the insight. "The relaxation phase is crucial," Jung-Beeman said. "That's why so many insights happen during warm showers."
I love how the article describes this necessary state of simultaneously concentrating while also letting your mind wander. Here's a great example:
Kounios tells a story about an expert Zen meditator who took part in one of the C.R.A. insight experiments. At first, the meditator couldn't solve any of the insight problems. "This Zen guy went through thirty or so of the verbal puzzles and just drew a blank," Kounios said. "He was very used to being very focused, but you can't solve these problems if you're too focused." Then, just as he was about to give up, he started solving one puzzle after another, until, by the end of the experiment, he was getting them all right. It was an unprecedented streak. "Normally, people don't get better as the task goes along," Kounios said. "If anything, they get a little bored." Kounios believes that the dramatic improvement of the Zen meditator came from his paradoxical ability to focus on not being focused, so that he could pay attention to those remote associations in the right hemisphere. "He had the cognitive control to let go," Kounios said. "He became an insight machine."
I want to be an insight machine. What are your tips and tricks for fostering insights?
