So, now you understand the basic meaning of the word insight, but how does it work? The funny thing about using it for problem solving is that you need to let go and let your mind wander so that it can make connections.
- However, you must do some prep work first.
- You need to learn everything you can about the problem you wish to solve.
- Then, you need to be willing to use your imagination. Much like in Star Wars, you need to “let go and act on instinct.”
The geologist Sarah Andrews describes how she uses it to do her work:
I took in everything I had ever observed and projected myself backward in time, seeing the landscape on which the sands had been deposited before they became rock. (147).
Fernette and Eide Brock explain the mental process that happens as Sarah did her problem solving:
This description reflects several features of episodic construction [i.e., using the part of the brain that deals with personal memories to simulate future outcomes] that we’ve already discussed.
“Taking in everything” means forming memories through observation, so the components of these memories can be used for later episodic construction.
“Projecting myself backward in time” means combining memory fragments through episodic simulation [i.e., using your imagination] into mental scenes that “predict” what the past was like.
In other words, Sarah’s method of geological reasoning involves constructing mental images of past landscapes by recombing memories of personal observations of the current landscape, rather than reasoning in a logical, sequential, step-by-step fashion using abstract principles or verbal or mathematical models. (147).
So, you can see that it’s a powerful problem solving method. However, the next section deals with the drawbacks.