In this section of the site I attempt to explain the
physiology behind enlightenment as well as many of the environmental factors
that influenced the evolutionary development of the human brain. I
also describe some interesting implications of this information including
pattern recognition and the ability to partially determine what people
are thinking by observing eye movement.
"In light of knowledge attained, the happy
achievement seems almost a matter of course, and any intelligent student can
grasp it without too much trouble. But the years of anxious searching in the
dark, with their intense longing, their alterations of confidence and
exhaustion and the final emergence into the light -- only those who have
experienced it can understand it."
- Albert Einstein (1875-1955),
German-born American theoretical physicist, theories of relativity,
philosopher
"Although many processes are shared by most types of
problem solving, insight solutions appear to differ from noninsight solutions
in several important ways. The clearest defining characteristic of insight
problem solving is the subjective “Aha!” or “Eureka!” experience that follows
insight solutions (Schooler et al. 1993). This subjective experience can lead
to a strong emotional response—according to legend, Archimedes ran home from
the baths shouting “Eureka!” without donning his clothes first. In addition,
problem solving with insight is characterized by the following features. (1)
Solvers first come to an impasse, no longer progressing toward a solution (Duncker
1945). Archimedes, for example, was stymied by King Hiero's challenge to
determine whether his new crown was pure gold without damaging the crown. (2)
Solvers usually cannot report the processing that enables them to reinterpret
the problem and overcome the impasse (Maier 1931). Insight often occurs when
people are not even aware they are thinking of the problem, as reportedly
happened to Archimedes while in the baths. (3) Solvers experience their
solutions as arising suddenly (Metcalfe and Wiebe 1987; Smith and Kounios
1996) and immediately recognize the correctness of the solution (or solution
path). (4) Performance on insight problems is associated with creative
thinking and other cognitive abilities different from those associated with
performance on noninsight problems (Schooler and Melcher 1997)."
-
Mark Jung-Beeman, Edward M. Bowden, Jason Haberman, Jennifer L. Frymiare,
Stella Arambel-Liu, Richard Greenblatt, Paul J. Reber, John Kounios, Published
April 13, 2004, Neural Activity When People Solve Verbal Problems with
Insight
