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by JoeAltmaier 3364 days ago
Similar to what Gelman said about what he called the Feynman method: "Step one: write down the problem statement. Step 2: think real hard. Step 3: write down the problem solution."

His point was, I think, that not every scientist can work that way. Some are real treasures, come along one in a generation.
2 comments
gwern 3364 days ago
There's a better Feynman method: http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~cahn/life/gian-carlo-rota-10-le...

> Richard Feynman was fond of giving the following advice on how to be a genius. You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps. Every once in a while there will be a hit, and people will say: "How did he do it? He must be a genius!"

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galdosdi 3364 days ago
That's not the most useful lesson I'd take from that. (That's not a very useful lesson, because I guess if you're not already a Feynman level genius, too bad)

The more useful lesson, useful for anyone, is that sometimes sleeping on it (literally, or just doing a very different activity) helps.

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