Eureka effect
Encyclopedia
Eureka (word)
"Eureka" is an interjection used to celebrate a discovery, a transliteration of a word attributed to Archimedes.-Etymology:The word comes from ancient Greek εὕρηκα heúrēka "I have found ", which is the 1st person singular perfect indicative active of the verb heuriskō "I find"...
effect (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: heurēka, "I have found") is any sudden unexpected discovery
Discovery (observation)
Discovery is the act of detecting something new, or something "old" that had been unknown. With reference to science and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing new reasoning to explain the knowledge gathered through such...
, or the sudden realization of the solution
Solution
In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...
to a problem
Problem
A problem is an obstacle, impediment, difficulty or challenge, or any situation that invites resolution; the resolution of which is recognized as a solution or contribution toward a known purpose or goal...
, resulting in a eureka moment (the moment of unexpected discovery), also dubbed as "breakthrough thinking". The eureka effect is also known as the aha phenomenon, and it is similar to an epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
.
The eureka effect is named after the myth that the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
Archimedes
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...
, having discovered how to measure the volume of an irregular object, leaped out of a public bath, and ran home naked shouting "eureka". Archimedes was asked by the local king to detect whether a crown was pure gold, or if the goldsmith had added silver. During his trip to the public bath, he noticed that water is displaced when his body sinks into the bath, and that the volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
of water displaced equals the volume of the body immersed in the water. This means that he can measure the density
Density
The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
of the crown, and compare it to a bar of pure gold. This story is thought to be a myth, because it was first mentioned by the Roman writer Vitruvius
Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
nearly 200 years after the event, and because the method described by Vitruvius would have been inaccurate.
The German term for this is Aha-Erlebnis, and it was coined by Karl Bühler. It was first mentioned in 1907, in Tatsachen und Probleme zu einer Psychologie der Denkvorgänge I, II, III. Archiv für die gesamte Psychologie 9, 315f.
Cognitive science
There are four features of problem solving resulting in the eureka effect:- People reach an impasse where they are no longer moving towards a solution of the problem.
- People usually cannot describe the processing that allows them to solve the problem, and insight often occurs when the person is not even aware that they are thinking about the problem.
- The solutions to the problems are perceived as happening suddenly. Experiments where subjects were asked to solve insight based problems have found that even seconds away from a eureka moment, subjects felt just as far from a solution as at any point in the process.
- Creative thinking and other cognitive abilities are associated with performance on insight problems
There is some evidence that prior knowledge can obstruct the unconscious processing that leads to a eureka moment. For example, familiarity with a word within a certain context can lead to a poorer performance at problems involving that word in a different context. In one experiment, invalid arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
al equations in Roman numerals
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
were set up with matchsticks, and subjects were asked to make a valid equation by moving only one match. The subjects found solving problems which required moving a match that changed an operator
Operation (mathematics)
The general operation as explained on this page should not be confused with the more specific operators on vector spaces. For a notion in elementary mathematics, see arithmetic operation....
(for example removing a match from an = to make a - sign) more difficult to solve. This may be because the prior knowledge in mathematics that operators must remain unchanged obstructed the setting up of a correct context for the problem.
Lateralization of the eureka moment
Functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalogram studies have found that problem solving requiring insight involves increased activity in the right cerebral hemisphereCerebral hemisphere
A cerebral hemisphere is one of the two regions of the eutherian brain that are delineated by the median plane, . The brain can thus be described as being divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres. Each of these hemispheres has an outer layer of grey matter called the cerebral cortex that is...
as compared with problem solving not requiring insight. In particular, increased activity was found in the right hemisphere anterior superior temporal gyrus
Superior temporal gyrus
The superior temporal gyrus is one of three gyri in the temporal lobe of the human brain, which is located laterally to the head, situated somewhat above the external ear.The superior temporal gyrus is bounded by:* the lateral sulcus above;...
.
Sleep
Some unconscious processing may take place while a person is asleep, and there are several cases of scientific discoveries coming to people in their dreams. Friedrich August Kekulé von StradonitzFriedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz
Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekule was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially in theoretical chemistry...
said that the ring structure of benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
came to him in a dream where a snake was eating its own tail. Studies have shown increased performance at insight problems if the subjects slept during a break between receiving the problem and solving it. Sleep may function to restructure problems, and allow new insights to be reached. Poncarie stated that he valued sleep as a time for "unconscious thought" that helped him break through problems.
Other theories
Professor Stellan Ohlsson believes that at the beginning of the problem-solving process, some salient features of the problem are incorporated into a mental representation of the problem. In the first step of solving the problem, it is considered in the light of previous experience. Eventually, an impasseImpasse
A bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. An impasse is almost invariably mutually harmful, either as a result of direct action which may be taken such as a strike in employment negotiation or sanctions/military...
is reached, where all approaches to the problem have failed, and the person becomes frustrated. Ohlsson believes that this impasse drives unconscious processes which change the mental representation of a problem, and cause novel solutions to occur.
The eureka effect and scientific discovery
There are several examples of scientific discoveries being made due to a sudden flash of insight. One of the key insights in developing his special theory of relativity came to Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
while talking to his friend Michele Besso
Michele Besso
Michele Angelo Besso was a Swiss/Italian engineer of Jewish Italian descent. He was a close friend of Albert Einstein during his years at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, today the ETH Zurich, and then at the patent office in Bern...
:
However, Einstein also said that the whole idea of special relativity did not come to him as a sudden, single thought, like a eureka moment: "Actually, I was led to it by steps arising from the individual laws derived from experience." Similarly, Carl Friedrich Gauss
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, electrostatics, astronomy and optics.Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum...
said after a eureka moment: "I have the result, only I do not yet know how to get to it"
Sir Alec Jeffreys
Alec Jeffreys
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, FRS is a British geneticist, who developed techniques for DNA fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used all over the world in forensic science to assist police detective work, and also to resolve paternity and immigration disputes...
had a eureka moment in his lab in Leicester after looking at the X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
film image of a DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
experiment at 9:05 am on Monday 10 September 1984, which unexpectedly showed both similarities and differences between the DNA of different members of his technician's family. Within about half an hour, he realized the possible scope of DNA fingerprinting, which uses variations in the genetic code
Genetic code
The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material is translated into proteins by living cells....
to identify individuals. The method has become important in forensic science to assist police detective work, and it has also proved useful in resolving paternity and immigration disputes. The method can also be applied to non-human species, for example in wildlife population genetics
Population genetics
Population genetics is the study of allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four main evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes into account the factors of recombination, population subdivision and population...
studies. Before his methods were commercialised in 1987 his laboratory was the only centre carrying out DNA fingerprinting in the world.
Literature
- Bühler, K. (1907). Tatsachen und Probleme zu einer Psychologie der Denkvorgänge. Über Gedanken. Archiv für Psychologie, 9, 297-365.