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comment by bhrgunatha
bhrgunatha  ·  2521 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Cormac McCarthy on the Origin of Language

That was a great article.

    I’ve pointed out to some of my mathematical friends that the unconscious appears to be better at math than they are.

A colleague of mine once shared his secret problem solving technique: taking a leisurely dump. Set aside whatever it is that's causing you grief - including any politics and personalities in the office/workplace - and just let your mind wander while clearing out your system. I prefer a walk or meditation, but the point is you can often solve problems by learning to allow your subconscious/unconscious to work on it, you really need to learn to be attentive to the answers though. Sometimes they come as images or ideas or even vague feelings. I've learned to trust my "internal" answers and to develop my intuition, even when they might seem crazy or difficult or in the opposite direction your facing. You need to discriminate though, to be critical because there's usually some interpretation involved, it's rarely a literal answer. Kekulé’ had to interpret his answer - plenty of people would have simple dismissed or ignored the snake eating its own tail.

    George Zweig and I had had one of our ten hour lunches

Damn now I want to go off to the mountains or the sea or rural France for a month.