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Some of these methods will reflect the structure of nature (the transmitter); others will reflect the limitations of the human brain (the receiver). The hope is that all this can be condensed and codified somewhat, possibly using information theory. Each method is followed by the number of at least one post in which it was used.
- Applying new concepts published by others #1.
- Consilience (Mental schematics of how something works that are useful in one field can also be useful in a different field.): across species boundaries, like using research on rats to get insights about diseases in humans. #57, #69, #75.
- Consilience: across levels of description (Examples of levels of description: the human world, made of societies, made of individuals, made of cells, made of molecules, made of atoms, made of electrons, protons, and neutrons, made of…?) #73, #75.
- Consilience: across length scales and timescales (This is basically the usefulness of the Fourier, wavelet, and LaPlace transforms) #12, #13, #23.
- Consilience: between nature and technology (Example: the parts of the eye correspond to the parts of a camera.) #2, #3, #76.
- Recursion (applying the same process to the result of its previous application) #58.
- Concept re-use #62, #67.
- Visualization #58.
- Visualization with zooming in #72.
- Problem identification (Problems are the friends of the theoretician.) #71.
- Stagewise admission of variables to a simple core idea (messification ). This is more gradual and structured than mind mapping and involves visualization with zooming in. #71, #72, #74, #76.
- Parameterization of supposed dichotomies #75.
- Selective elevation of 1-3 facts (searching for an explanatory core) #25, #52, #60, #64.
- Adding feedback (The presence of exponential increases or decreases hints at feedback.) #74.
- Adding hormesis (Effects can be either increasing or decreasing in different dose ranges of the same substance.) #The hormesis posts in Experimentalist’s Progress
- Taking the next step (You can be sure that Nature has—long ago.) #14, #75, #77.
- Contemplating the mathematics #19, #73.
- Avoiding perfectionism. #The early physics posts
- The 5 Ws #77.
- Identifying if-then relationships (reasoning) across levels of description (Example: allosteric control of an enzyme’s catalytic site; the primary, secondary, and tertiary structures of proteins are sub-levels of description.) #74, #77.
- Reversing the conventional explanation (Example: combustion adds a substance, oxygen; it doesn’t subtract a substance, phlogiston, as the alchemists believed.) #The hormesis posts in Experimentalist’s Progress
- Taking the math constructs literally, not just as aids to calculation (The heliocentric model of the solar system was literally true, in addition to being an aid to calculation as it was first billed. Modern quantum mechanics is full of such aids to calculation but avoids answering the question: “How and of what is the world made?”) #71.
- Generalization #12, #73.
- The evolutionary psychology concept (human behaviour can be directly explained by evolutionary arguments, which is reasoning across levels of description and timescales) #15-18, #21, etc.
- Build a Rube Goldberg device on paper to explain the phenomenon; some explanation may be more helpful than none. #68, #74.
- Go for cute (assume that a design exists) #70.
- (To be continued. Still to be carefully reviewed: posts 29-67.)
