Problem-solving is something we all do every day. In terms of what our brains are doing, there are two very distinct processes being used. We either analyze the problem or we have an insight about the problem. These are two totally different things and there are times when the processes confuse each other, so understanding how to separate them can be useful.
- Imagine there is an inverted steel pyramid perfectly balanced on its point. Any movement of the pyramid will make it topple over. Underneath the pyramid’s point is a $100 bill. How would you remove the $100 bill without disturbing the pyramid?
Are you thinking about this? As you are thinking about this, are you visualizing the problem or are you taking notes on the problem? More often than not, the person working on this puzzle is visualizing the pyramid on its point and what could be done around it to accomplish the goal. This is right-brain, creative problem-solving.
Now, if you decided to start analyzing this – taking notes, talking about it – you would start to get too much information and it would either take longer to arrive at a solution or not happen at all. It simply is not a problem that calls for pen and paper. It is a problem which calls upon the visualization of the properties at play.
The impairment caused by too much analytic thought on a problem is called verbal overshadowing. Simply, it’s when the left brain which is the analytic sides does the work and inhibits the right brain’s creative side from doing its work. Too much information can cause delay, and in many situations there is no time for that.
Classic examples of that principle can be found in the work of firefighters. They see fires daily and understand the behaviours of fire, so when something doesn’t look, sound or feel right, their intuition makes a call to get out of a building or get to safety. There is no analysis whatsoever. There does not need to be analysis, and in fact the time spent on analysis could worsen the situation dramatically.
Perhaps a more salient example is driving. Teenagers are learning to drive and they naturally lack in experience. On one hand this really calls for allowing the experiences of driving so that the necessary defence skills are developed. Because, again, driving is an activity that often does not allow for overt analysis. Having a sense of others driving behaviours, how to drive in bad weather, and other fine points of driving are not learnt by book and discussion.
There are a lot of abstract problems for which the left brain is well-suited, but in high pressure and real world situations the problems are often right in front of a person and then experience, knowledge, and intuition come together to create the image – call it a map, or final piece to a puzzle – which answers the question.
As for the $100 bill… You would need to destroy it; tear it or burn it, in order to accomplish the goal.
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