Insights are unexpected shifts in the way we understand how things work. We can’t plan for insights but we can still increase our chances for gaining them.
One tactic is to exploit anomalies. For example, Albert Einstein performed thought experiments about riding on a light beam and then turning on a light. Surely that light should seem frozen, moving at the same speed he was. But recent work suggested that the light beam would move away from him – at the speed of light. When faced with such an anomaly, the tendency is to dismiss it. Einstein couldn’t see how to explain it away so he tried another tack – taking it seriously. He speculated that as his speed increased, time would slow down and objects would appear shorter. Thus was born the special theory of relativity. Read More »