Insight-based solutions to problems often occur as if by magic. One day, suddenly and at the least expected moment, a solution appears to a complex problem we’ve been trying to solve for a long time. In science, insight-based solutions are common. Einstein himself acknowledged having achieved a qualitative change in his theory thanks to insight, although they also occur in everyday life.
The Eureka Effect, the mind-blowing clarity
Possibly the oldest recorded insight belongs to Archimedes, a prominent mathematician, geometer and physicist famous for his “Archimedes’ Principle,” according to which every body immersed in a fluid experiences a vertical and upward thrust equal to the weight of the displaced fluid.
The story goes that Hieron, king of Syracuse, summoned Archimedes to solve a problem. The king had given a goldsmith a quantity of gold and silver to make him a crown. But when he received the work, Hieron suspected the silversmith’s honesty. So, he asked Archimedes to investigate whether he had been swindled.
Archimedes did not know how to solve the problem since he could not break the crown or dissolve it in acid.
One very hot day, he decided to take a bath, but when he submerged himself in the water, it overflowed the tub. Thinking about it, he realized that when he entered the tub, it took the place of the water. S.o the weight of his body was equal to the weight of the displaced water.
When he realized that he could apply this principle to calculate the quantity of gold and silver in the crown, he became so excited that he is said to have run naked through the streets of Syracuse shouting: “Eureka! Eureka!” which in Greek means “I found it! I found it!”
However, you don’t have to be a scientist to experience Archimedes’ Eureka moment. Insightful solutions also occur in everyday life.
What is insight in Psychology?
The Eureka moment could be translated in psychological terms as insight, although it has also been called inspiration or unconscious solution. In psychology, insight refers to an unexpected and sudden understanding of a cause-and-effect relationship that had gone unnoticed and generally allows us to solve a problem or analyze a situation from a different and original perspective.
However, the term insight is also used to refer to a sudden understanding, not necessarily of a problem but of a situation in which we may find ourselves immersed. In this case, what we find isn’t a solution but a new perspective, which is generally revealing.
How does insight occur?
The mechanisms of insight are very complex. According to Gestalt, insight is the product of a sudden restructuring. When we face a problem, we often have so many previously learned fixations and mental routines that they prevent us from analyzing the main characteristics of the problematic situation with complete openness and mental flexibility.
In other words, our rigid mental patterns prevent us from reaching the solution. However, at a certain point, these patterns or “functional fixations” are restructured, and the solution emerges, we reach insight.
To understand this theory about insight, I propose you solve a simple problem:
Why are these numbers placed in this order?
0, 5, 4, 2, 9, 8, 6, 7, 3, 1
Weisberg, on the other hand, claims that insight is based on a gradual process where, if we don’t find a solution, the thought begins the cycle again by trying new strategies.
However, insight is not merely a conscious and rational process, but rather relies on a dual process: at the conscious and subconscious levels. This means that it requires both mental restructuring and the abandonment of “functional fixations” as well as the skill and experience to solve ill-defined problems that require highly creative solutions. This is without forgetting the essential psychological distance required for the unconscious to work.
This dual processing could explain why many insight-based solutions appear precisely during sleep or when we have just woken up, since conscious processing of information continues its course in the unconscious.
Neuroscience of the Aha! moment
In fact, neuroscience seems to support the idea that there are different processing mechanisms for analytical thinking and insight-based problem-solving. A study conducted at Northwestern University revealed increased activity in the anterior superior temporal gyrus of the right hemisphere, as well as a sudden burst of high-intensity neural activity (gamma waves) in that same area just 0.3 seconds before people reported the solution.
This area of the brain is related to the connections between distantly related data during comprehension. In other words, it is responsible for finding connections between seemingly unrelated concepts for analytical thinking, practicing a kind of subconscious synectics.
Another study conducted at Drexel University revealed an unusual pattern of neural activity before facing problems, as if people’s brains were preparing to seek a solution through insight.
Neuroscientists at the University of Milano-Bicocca also discovered that we tend to blink more, more frequently, and for longer periods of time when we solve problems through insight and focus less on details.
Phases of insight in problem solving
Although insight involves the sudden emergence of a solution or discovery into consciousness, this does not mean that the process does not go through different phases of problem solving.
- Limited search. In this first phase, we discover the problem and attempt to find a solution using analytical thinking. It’s a trial-and-error phase in which we search, test, and discard solutions. In this phase, we haven’t yet gotten rid of mental fixations. So, the cognitive process and the chances of finding a solution are limited.
- Mental impasse. In this phase, also called incubation, no matter how hard we try, we can’t find a solution. We feel blocked, and we can’t move forward. We don’t know how to proceed. So, we often fall into repetitive behavior patterns, try new solutions again, or, conversely, fall into a state of inactivity and frustration. In this phase of insight, not much happens on a conscious level, but the unconscious is likely working at full speed.
- Problem restructuring. This is the process by which we attempt to view the problem from another perspective, find new relationships, or change our approach. Having reached an impasse, restructuring is the first step toward breaking out of that initial, limited search space, although we are still far from finding the solution. This phase of insight is also called extended search because it involves recognizing that our initial efforts were unsuccessful and that we need to considerably broaden our perspective. Therefore, it would be a kind of permission from consciousness for the contents of the unconscious to surface.
- Suddenness. This is the final phase of insight, which involves the emergence of a solution into consciousness, usually suddenly and unexpectedly. This moment is experienced with surprise, and it is often difficult to explain how this sudden understanding occurred.
Insight solutions are more reliable than analytical thinking
In a society that exalts reason, analysis is assumed to be the best tool for solving problems. Analysis involves a conscious and deliberate search for a solution, unlike insight, in which the solution emerges as a qualitative leap, and only then can we consciously reconstruct the mental processes that led to that brilliant idea.
This lack of control over our thinking scares us. We don’t want to leave anything to chance. But the truth is that insight-based problem-solving has proven to be a very useful, valid, and effective strategy. A study conducted at the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory in Chicago confirms this.
These psychologists presented participants with a series of different problems. In one, they were given three words and had to find a fourth that would form a common sentence with the original words. In others, they presented anagrams, and finally, they presented incomplete images that participants had to identify. After each answer, participants had to indicate whether they had discovered the solution through the analytical method or had had an insight.
Psychologists found that only 78.3% of analytical responses were correct. However, 93.7% of insight responses were correct and much more accurate. They explain that while analytical thinking leads us to evaluate different conjectures based on data, insight occurs below the threshold of our consciousness, where automatic screening occurs, so that only the best solution emerges.
The solution to the problem
For those who are obsessed with the solution to the digit problem, I offer a new clue to help you solve it:
Why are these words placed in this order?
Zero, five, four, two, nine, eight, six, seven, three, one.
Now you can probably tell that they are arranged in alphabetical order, a fact that we could hardly imagine due to the stereotypical idea that leads us to think that numbers are only made for calculating.
Sometimes it’s simply enough to approach the problem from a different perspective and shed some of our most rigid mental patterns. We can also apply this to our daily lives; it’s definitely a worthwhile endeavor.
Sources:
Salvi, C. et. Al. (2016) Insight solutions are correct more often than analytical solutions. Think Reason ; 22(4): 443–460.
Salvi, C. et. Al. (2015) Sudden insight is associated with shutting out visual inputs. Psychon Bull Rev ; 22(6): 1814-1819.
Fedor, A. et. Al. (2015) Problem solving stages in the five square problem. Front. Psychol ; 6:1050.
Kounios, J. et. Al. (2006) The prepared mind: neural activity prior to problem presentation predicts subsequent solution by sudden insight. Psychol Sci ; 17(10): 882-890.
Jung-Beeman, M. et. Al. (2004) Neural activity when people solve verbal problems with insight. PLoS Biol ; 2 (4): E97.
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