ExtendingTheMentalScreen

From UoWiki

Most interesting problems are not easily solved in our heads. Many are so involved that we find visualising them difficult, if not impossible.

If we happen to be dining out we may reach for a biro and our napkin. We may start re-arranging the salt and pepper pots, and even our cutlery. They often make handy stand-ins for the people, machines and other elements that appear in problems.

The use of props to assist in the visualisation of a problem has been described by some as extending the MentalScreen. Having something to hand can reduce the effort of holding and manipulating an image in mind.

The use of informal props - twigs, matches, boxes etc - can be particularly effective because they are so easy to handle. Advanced tools do have their place though.

The very informality of the approach - its casualness - can cause us not to apply it when it would actually be useful. The context of the problem may be formal - a serious meeting - or our EmotionalState may be such that we distracted. We may however be well rewarded if we do.