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From: harrison@necssd.NEC.COM (Mark Harrison)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Simulating thinking is NOT like
Summary: Formal reasoning methods and creativity
Message-ID: <245@necssd.NEC.COM>
Date: 6 Mar 90 13:42:58 GMT
References: <6557@cps3xx.UUCP> <4100006@aisunk>
Organization: NEC America Inc. SSD, Irving, TX
Lines: 30

In article <4100006@aisunk>, ywlee@aisunk.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
> 
> /* Written  1:34 am  Feb 25, 1990 by news@caen.engin.umich.edu in aisunk:comp.ai */
> 
> >        - Occasionally abandon formal reasoning methods to 
> >	  simply explore patterns in the information at its
> >	  disposal.  (Dreams? Creativity?)
> >
> 
> I don't think this part is necessary. Do we get creativity
> by abandoning formal reasoning methods? Well, I doubt it. 
> 
> ywlee.

Formal reasoning systems are very good for deducing knowledge from facts
already known (Deductive reasoning), but sometimes not so good for
inductive reasoning. Didn't Einstein develop some of his original thoughts
on relativity by thinking about what happened to someone falling down an
elevator shaft?

A very interesting book that covers some of these points is
_A_Whack_on_the_Side_of_the_Head_. (The Author's name is "Och" or something
like that [quick, comp.ai-ers, what makes me forget this just when I want
to tell somebody ? :-)], it is published by Warner books, and is readily
availible at bookstores.)
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Harrison				| (these opinions
harrison@necssd.NEC.COM			|  are my own, etc.)
{necntc, cs.utexas.edu}!necssd!harrison |