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[+] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    I think this is an interesting thread. Is creativity just a matter of combinatorics over the right data? Or is it something more? Like you are thinking about existing solutions and theorems, and then you trip over a bucket and come up with bucket sort or something

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    It's largely a matter of lateral thinking and metacognition

    Like tripping over a bucket isn't going to make you shout eureka! But you're thinking on the problem, and you remember seeing a seller carefully packing his things up for the day into neatly sorted boxes

    (Or sometimes you do trip over a bucket, which reminds you of the seller)

    You take the root concept, sorting things using a number of containers, and then you deconstruct and reconstruct pieces of the pattern to reapply aspects of it to your problem

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