This happens when we are engaged in science or creativity: we seem to freeze and cannot take a single step forward. But the most painful thing is the feeling of a dead end in life circumstances, when one single thought pulsates in the brain: there is no way out. Studies by psychologists and neurolinguists have shown that the trap, like the solution, is most often in our head.
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“The habit is given to us from above, it is a substitute for happiness,” the poet accurately captured a person’s desire to evaluate situations and tasks using a standard set of criteria. We are comfortable and cozy in the familiar world. And we are not ready to go beyond our ideas about what is right and wrong, what is good and what is bad.
But it turned out that habit often becomes an obstacle on the way – to discoveries, if we are talking about science, and fortunately, if we are looking for a way out of difficult life circumstances.
Poincare method
The mathematician and philosopher Henri Poincare identified 4 stages in solving scientific problems that require a non-standard approach:
- Preparatory stagewhen the researcher uses traditional approaches to the solution. Poincare noted that this time-consuming step often leads the researcher into a dead end, and the solution seems impossible.
- Incubation period – this is how Poincaré called the time when a desperate scientist stops rationally thinking about a problem.
- Enlightenment – a paradoxical result of the refusal to try to solve the problem by the usual means, when the solution comes at first glance in an inexplicable way.
- Verification of the resulting solution means of rational thought.
How will this help us?
It would seem that what is common between the problems of scientific research and the life crises of an ordinary person? Recent research by psychologists, in particular experiments carried out in the laboratory of Michael Kraus at the University of California at Berkeley, has shown that the nature of the difficulties in these very different areas is the same.
When the use of standard approaches does not work in solving creative problems or in search of a way out of the dramatic collisions of one’s own life, a person in desperation stops trying to rationally comprehend the situation. That is, the second stage begins, which Poincaré called the period of incubation.
“Incubation” means the birth, the bearing of something new. Why did the mathematician call the period, which at first glance looks like surrender, such an encouraging word?
He noted that a temporary refusal to think about ways out of crises is a productive stage, often bringing the scientist closer to solving the problem. The explanation for this lies in the analysis of the reasons why our thinking comes to a dead end.
The researchers have formulated a list of dead ends, of which the most common is the one into which the peculiarities of human perception lead us. Psychologists have called it perceptual. The most obvious explanation of what this dead end is is given by the well-known “shifter” drawing, which depicts either an elderly lady or a young beauty.
True insights are accompanied by a sense of relief when we say, “You can exhale.”
How this is possible and why people see different images in the picture, scientists have not fully figured out. However, the example clearly illustrates how our brain can overlook the obvious.
Seeing an old woman, it is very difficult for us to change the angle of our gaze and notice a young beauty in the same interweaving of lines. In order for the brain to be able to switch, it needs rest – a distraction from the task. And it is at the end of the second stage that a decision often comes, the process of emergence of which scientists called insight. If we return to the example with the drawing, then it will be a surprised “Wow! How could I not have seen this before.”
Of course, this description greatly simplifies all the processes. But it is useful for understanding the reasons why we reach a dead end, and in order to find a way out, it is worth distracting from the problem.
So, it dawned on us – here it is, eureka! But it’s not so simple. There are pitfalls, as in any process. The bad news: insights can be false. The good news is that more often they are true, that is, they give the correct answer.
Numerous experiments have made it possible to formulate a sign of false and true insights with a high probability. This is the difference in the immediate emotional response to an unexpected insight: true insights are accompanied by a sense of relief when we say: “You can exhale.” With false insights, the emotion of surprise and skepticism prevails: “Well, how strange it is.”
The necessary conditions
Is it possible to somehow contribute to the emergence of insights? Experts say yes. And here the paradox already known to us works again – you need to consciously distract yourself from the problem and do something else. These other deeds and states can become ways of creating the conditions for insights to arise.
Most researchers identify four groups of conditions that contribute to the activation of creative intuition.
- Sleep contributes to the emergence of insights, laziness is relaxed idleness, that is, a situation where the brain goes to rest as much as possible.
- But the body needs to work better. A connection has been established between our motor skills and thought processes. Running, swimming, breathing exercises are the best gift for resting your brain. Physical activity relieves stress, and the brain receives a signal that you can go free swimming. As a result, a person acquires the ability to abandon patterns and stereotypes.
- There is evidence of the benefits of meditation, but this method is for those people who already own these practices.
- The general cultural level is important – the wider the range of interests, the more likely the emergence of insights. This is where statistics come into play – more options, more areas that are easy for us to switch to.
Intuitively, creative people have understood this connection for a long time, as evidenced by the poetic appeal succinctly formulated by Nikolai Zabolotsky: “Love painting, poets.” The researchers fleshed out the poetic metaphor and now we have a guide to action. This is not a guarantee of success, but an opportunity to find new paths and open new horizons.