Thread by @george__mack

🧠 Today I Learnt:

Claude Shannon (The founder of Information Theory and "the most important genius you've never heard of") on CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING.

Thanks to @james_clear for the recommendation + @jimmyasoni for the write-up.

So many actionable gems below 🔥

THREAD:

SIMPLIFY.

Eliminate everything from the problem except the essential.

Almost every problem you come across will be muddled with extraneous data. If you can strip the problem down to its fundamentals, you can see clearly what is going on and perhaps find a solution.

You may accidentally simplify so much that what you have left no longer resembles the original problem.

But if you can solve this simple version of the problem, you can add refinements to this solution and build up complexity from a solid base until you have the answer.

"When you’re forced to be simple, you’re forced to face the real problem. When you can’t deliver ornament, you have to deliver substance." - @paulg

"It's the mark of a genius to explain a complex topic in a simple way." - @naval

SEEK SIMILAR PROBLEMS.

AKA Copy & Paste.

If you have a problem, and you are looking for a solution - look for a similar problem that you (or someone else) has solved in the past and think of how you can copy & paste the principles behind that solution.

E.g. If you are rubbish with your health but great with money, copy and paste what you do with money to your health.

Track finances = Track calories
Financial advisor = Personal trainer
Wealthy friends = Healthy friends

LOOK AT IT FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE

When emotionally invested in a problem, we develop mental blocks.

Often when someone with fresh eyes looks at our problem, they can find the solution immediately that you spent 3 months looking for.

They view it without all the blind spots.

Think of the problem like a circle. The solution is at a 180-degree angle than you are currently looking at it, but you keep looking at it from the same angle due to consistency and confirmation bias.

Change the wording of the problem. Change the viewpoint. Ask better questions

"What is it that they can't to say or think?" - @EricRWeinstein

'Imagine two opposing traditional views as a tug of war. Instead of joining either side, go to the middle of the rope and pull sideways. It takes very little effort and you can cause mass movement'. @robinhanson

GENERALISATION

When you see a problem solved in an isolated and specific way - look to generalize it and stretch it as far as it can go.

When you find an answer to something, immediately ask how can you make this broader.

If somebody comes along with a clever way of doing something, one should ask yourself, "Can I apply the same principle in more general ways? Can I use this same clever idea to solve a larger class of problems?"

E.g. Can I take the uber model to the hotel industry? 🤔🤔🤔

TAKE TINY STEPS

Instead of trying to get from A to Z. Try and get from A to B. Then B to C. And so forth.

Shannon notes many proofs in Mathematics have been found this way. You take one step at a time and before you know it you find yourself at the back door of the solution.

Once you have found the solution, you can go back and simplify your windy route. E.g. where you could have shortcutted by going from A to E, then E to P, and P to Z.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu

INVERSION (my favorite)

You are trying to obtain the solution S on the basis of the premise P and you can't do it.

Instead, turn the problem over and try and obtain the solution P on the premise S.

If you are trying to go from depressed to happy, the answer is easier by looking at how to go from happy to depressed.

- Lack of sleep & exercise
- Poor diet
- Social isolation
- Meaningless work
- Self-pity

Avoid that and you've figured out 95% of happiness. @AJA_Cortes

"Avoid intense ideologies. Avoid sloth and unreliability." - Charlie Munger

"Avoiding stupidity is easier than seeking excellence." - @farnamstreet

Original resource here 🙌🙌🙌

medium.com/the-mission/a-…