billswift comments on Tips and Tricks for Answering Hard Questions - Less Wrong

47 Post author: Wei_Dai 17 January 2010 11:56PM

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Comment author: billswift 18 January 2010 03:15:00AM 2 points [-]

Don't stop at the first good answer. In fact having a solution in hand can itself suggest other approaches, also having a workable solution relieves pressure which can help you think more adventurously about the problem.

Explore multiple approaches simultaneously. A good idea for multiple people, but if you are working alone mentally switching between approaches is expensive and time wasting. Working alone it's better to bring one idea at a time to completion before going to another.