How To Solve Problems Like Sherlock Holmes
fastcocreate.com
fastcocreate.com
But there are many articles written as if Holmes is a real person, such that we could extract valuable life lessons by studying how Holmes solved problems - on the implicit basis that it worked out well for Holmes.
That a particular way of thinking worked for Holmes doesn't mean anything. At best, you are hoping that Arthur Conan Doyle had a particularly good model of the world, as reflected in his fiction, that is worth studying.
Finally, the advice in that particular article seems contradictory, to me. E.g:
“I make it a practice not to judge someone before I speak with them and get to know them. But can I tell you who someone is by looking at cuff links? No.”
Which is the article saying we are supposed to do? Wait for someone to speak before judging them? Or make educated guesses, based on prior knowledge of the world, and observations such as the cuff links they wear?
Like: mindfulness is good (meditation sure is), multitasking is bad (we can't do it anyway), and some mnemonic techniques work better than others (music, writing) —don't know of any study on that one, though there probably are.
While we're at it, we don't want to imitate Holmes on everything. The guy was a cocaine user, for one.
And she isn't saying she is making educated guesses but rather that she isn't able to but has learned not to make snap judgements.
How is the description of the expertise of Sherlock, and Ayn Rand's book related as you seem to infer? I am genuinely curious and would appreciate your feedback...
But there are many articles written as if Holmes is a real person, such that we could extract valuable life lessons by studying how Holmes solved problems - on the implicit basis that it worked out well for Holmes.
This is the line to which I was specifically referring. In the case of Rand, some people look at her works of fiction and argue for her philosophy based on the novel.
However, I do think there is still a key importance: Ayn Rand was using her books to dispense a specific philosophy and this has been clear both by interviews given by Rand and by the content of at least one of her books (I've only read one). The books were a means to that end.
In the case of Sherlock, this is a work of fiction and as far as I know, no specific philosophy is the framework of any of the Sherlock stories.
Jack McDevitt speaks of this concept with his Alex Benedict series of books. The first book is from the perspective of the title character but he changes this to the sidekick for the rest of the series. His reasoning for this, from what I recall, is that it wasn't right for the story to be told from the character's perspective but still have to hide certain things from the reader so that certain ideas don't come to mind before they are ready to be presented. The idea is that if the reader figures out the mystery halfway through the story then the rest of the story to be told is ruined.
I suppose another aspect could be the author doesn't want the reader to feel that they are smarter than the hero.
Some have even suggested that it is the publishers 'dumbing down' the book for the US.
There's a link to a youtube video which features the "Sherlock" television show. It shows the first encounter between Watson and Holmes where he deduces whether or not he was involved in the Afghanistan war. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYlVBhwfvL4
Its cool that that encounter happened in the book as well. I love how even though the time period is different, the subjects are still relevant.
-- Now about this article, some of these things are of course based of a fictional character. But, I don't think that's the point of the article. Its more about how to open your mind and observe closely what's in front of you. Perhaps, learning and applying the lessons from the fictional Holmes will actually expand ones horizons. Being that this is Hacker News , and the article was posted on Fast Company, I see how this may benefit a developer or an entrepreneur. You may be able to solve problems just by sitting back and not moving too fast. By simply being mindful and patient, maybe the solution will not only come to you but even compel you to act on it.
At least that's what I got out of it...
“And he distrusted the sort of person who’d take one look at another man and say in a lordly voice to his companion, “Ah, my dear sir, I can tell you nothing except that he is a left-handed stonemason who has spent some years in the merchant navy and has recently fallen on hard times,” and then unroll a lot of supercilious commentary about calluses and stance and the state of a man’s boots, when exactly the same comments could apply to a man who was wearing his old clothes because he’d been doing a spot of home bricklaying for a new barbecue pit, and had been tattooed once when he was drunk and seventeen and in fact got seasick on wet pavement. What arrogance! What an insult to the rich and chaotic variety of the human experience!”
- Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay
Sherlock Holmes is fun to read, but completely, utterly unrealistic.
Dr. John Watson Quote
-A Study in Scarlet
That said, I still enjoy the books as well as the RDJr Movies.
This may work for some people, but it has never worked for me. I come back more distracted, and it takes me a long time to get back into the swing of things. I prefer eating a sandwich at my desk while reading a few chapters of a book.