Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with problemsolving

Where do workaholics unite?

mockdeep — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:03:31 -0800

I like to work. I love to solve problems. I don't enjoy spending time in bars or watching television. Where can I find people like me? I fancy myself a doer. I really get a kick out of looking at a situation and finding ways to improve it. I like to feel like I am making a contribution, whether by building something with my hands or writing computer code or anything else that will make things better. People will tell me that I need to relax, but things like washing the dishes or or shining my shoes are to me very meditative and relaxing. I am not at any point manic, I move slowly in everything and work it through with care. I do like to just do nothing from time to time, laying on the grass in a park or getting to know people at a party, but most often I would rather be working or learning something new.

My friends tend to shy away from too much productivity. On occasion something needs to be done, or something fixed, and if I happen to be in the right place at the right time I'll have a chance to shine, but more often than not they're just up for "hanging out". How can I find more people like myself to work together with?

Personal Design Software?

zeek321 — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:00:02 -0800

Computer-aided design using Christopher Alexander's Notes on the Synthesis of Form? So I just finished reading the book, which was published in 1964. I want to use the method described therein, and he even talks about a (now very outdated) way to implement it on a computer. I can't find any software online that seems to do anything vaguely like this. I was hoping there was something dead simple out there, like OmniFocus-esque simple. (I want to design really qualitative things like lifestyle and a business.) I'm doing Google searches for:

computer-aided problem solving
functional decomposition software
computer-aided functional decomposition
notes on the synthesis of form problem solving
notes on the synthesis of form software

Nothing seems to be coming up. I feel like the process could be super automated, as in 1) define the nodes and links, and then 2) it will do the decomposition for you. But I've got nothing.

40+ years later, is this style of problem-solving called something different, and I'm not using the right search keywords? What does the business world call this? There must be a software package.

Do I have to write my own software? I think I could hack something together, including even nice visual graphs, with existing libraries, but it would take hours to weeks. Thanks in advance.

Notes: I don't think a mind-mapper, Flying Logic, Tinderbox, or any sort of relatively static layout tool will work. I want the software to take the graph structure I define and actively transform it. There are software libraries that do these sorts of things, but I can't seem to find anything that puts it all together in a user-friendly package.

Help me develop topics for a high school course on problem solving.

etc. — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:29:00 -0800

Help me develop topics for a high school course on problem solving. I am a high school teacher (previously) with hopes of creating a problem-solving course. I've not found good materials online for a course like the one I am conceiving, nor have I taken one of this sort (except for a small-group excercise I participated in in 5th grade), but here's what I have in mind:

1) Break students into groups of 4 or 5 students of mixed ability (my school has a fairly broad range of students, but they are mostly centered at a bit below grade-level expectations).

2) Assign a problem that is fairly specific though also fairly open ended.

3) Then, my role as teacher is to guide the groups over the course of, say, 2 to 3 weeks toward a creative, collaborative and somewhat viable answer by asking students to refine and challenge their own group work. Meanwhile, I will provide materials (mainly related readings) that guide students to these viable answers.

4) Ultimately, students will present their findings/solutions to a panel (probably a group of teachers and students, though maybe invited experts).

5) Move on to next problem...

I've wanted to post this question for a while, but didn't quite have my head wrapped around a good sample topic, but now that I think I have one, let me show you what I mean:

Problem: Devise a one-time, one-way communique to be transmitted to an extraterrestrial intelligence.

I would then pass out markers and paper and ask students to put together their message, which would probably consist of a paragraph written in English saying, "Hi. We're from Earth and we would love to meet you. When you get here we'll take you to McDonalds. Love, Earthlings."

We would then critique our messages and begin the formal study of the problem and look at related readings:

--Aliens won't understand our writing (readings on hieroglyphics, the Rosetta Stone and/or cryptography)
--How has this problem been approached before? (Pioneer, Voyager, Arecibo)
--Problems associated with previous attempts (like this)

In other words, assign a tough problem that requires creative solutions to which a constructivist, pursuit-based approach is manageable for the teacher. With the alien message example above, I could provide lots of support materials and be a gadfly to students while letting students invent their own solutions.

What I don't want are things like the you-are-stuck-on-an-island-with-these-20-things-now-rank-them-in-order-of-importance-and-we'll-see how-well-you-did-against-a-predefined-correct-answer sort. And I want the project to have lots of paths and dead ends (which I think the alien message does). Another idea I was considering was a nuclear war scenario in which groups are given, say, $2000 to stock a bomb shelter--what do you buy?--but I'm afraid I would have trouble finding useful resources for my gadfly-ing, and I don't feel like the answer is open ended enough (you know: "water, food, guns, two-way radio, etc.").

I am also interested in a problem-solving framework that we would study at the beginning of the term and use throughout, though there are some AskMes on similar topics, but what I really want here is your good idea of a problem and links to a bunch of related readings that would provide the basis for student inquiry, like the example above.

How can I hone my problem solving skills?

Solomon — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:12:43 -0800

What questions do you use to stimulate your thought processes when you have a problem? When I have a problem, I tend to imagine I'm talking to an expert in the field of whatever it is I'm doing, and ask them questions about what I'm doing wrong.

For example, I have a problem in a relationship. I imagine I'm talking to a therapist about it, and try to think about what questions they would ask me about the relationship, to help me solve the problem. I find this works really well, as it forces me to think about the issue, and verbalise the problems, which tends to stir up more ideas and potential solutions.

Unfortunately, I'm not an expert in any field, so the questions I ask myself tend to be limited. And seeking an actual expert isn't always convenient or warranted. Of course, if an expert was warranted, I would contact one. It's just that most of the time, one isn't. I don't want to call Nigella Lawson every time my sponge cake doesn't rise.

I'm familiar with the concept of flow, and seem to be using it when I'm in a problem solving state, for what that's worth. I do collaborate with others when the situation calls for it, and I do research online.

My questions are these: how can I enhance this "concept"? What generic questions could I ask myself to get my thought processes working? Are there any other things I can do that will get my mental "fixing a problem" juices flowing?

Any personal experiences are welcome.

Smokin' and Thinkin'.

TryTheTilapia — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:58:50 -0800

What to do while noodling? When I'm thinking something through, I smoke. I hate that I smoke, I want to quit, and I realize that part of my thinking ritual, particularly when I'm working on a writing project, is to smoke my way through to completion. I also pace and google things, two habits that I'd like to replace with something more productive, or, really, just something new.

I'm curious what others around these parts do when you're noodling over a project, a problem, a puzzle of any sort - do you go for a walk? Do you make pasta from scratch? Do you occupy your hands with knitting or some such? What are your healthier habits? Ideas and experiences would be appreciated. My lungs, my wallet and my brain thank you in advance.

When do a bunch of characters solve a problem in one long conversation?

nebulawindphone — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:18:20 -0800

I'm looking for dialog-heavy scenes (in books, movies, TV shows, etc) where a group of people solve a problem or make a plan in the course of one long conversation. The "one long conversation" criterion is what makes this hard. Most police procedurals, for instance, don't work because the problem-solving is spread out across many short conversations in the course of an episode. The planning in heist movies tends to be the same way — split up, or scattered through some sort of "preparation" montage. I want examples where you get to watch the whole problem-solving process from beginning to end, with one set of participants, no jumps forward or backward in time, and no interruptions.

Bonus points, too, if the problem involves subgoals (e.g. "To get the money we'll need to break into the building, get past the guards, and open the safe. Now let's think about how to break into the building....")

Lest this sound too chatfiltery, there is a practical problem here: I'm doing research on the linguistic structure of conversations, and I'd like some well-known examples of this kind of conversation that I can point to as examples.

Book Recommendations For Leadership/Problem-Solving?

DMan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:31:26 -0800

I need some good books or other learning material about how to effectively lead people, and more importantly, solve disputes. Read anything that would help me? So, I'm a college freshman this year, and I plan on applying to be a RA in my dorm for next year. For anyone who isn't familiar with that term,it's basically a student that's in charge of part of the dorm. Responsibilities include solving disputes between students and just being someone that they can talk to if they have a problem. Leadership and problem-solving skills are vital.

I feel that I'd be really good at this job, but the competition will be very fierce (it's a paid position and also includes a free private room and meal plan) so I want to study up a bit to improve my chances. I feel like I have the basic skills required, but I'd like to find some good books, videos, or movies that might help me become better at being a leader and fixing problems.

And while we're at it, if anyone here was an RA in college or had positive/negative experiences with theirs, I'd love to hear any personal tips you can provide. The interview and selection process occurs late this semester or early next, so I really need to get going on this.

Thanks for the help!

How do I make an audio delivery system?

TurkishGolds — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:56:27 -0800

I need an audio delivery system. Let's say that I have one-hundred locations across the country where I want to play a 4-minute loop of audio over an in-house PA system, and change the content of that 4-minutes on a weekly basis. I don't know if it's something that I should try to build myself or if there's something commercially available that will accomplish the task. I also want to do this on the CHEAP.

I am interested in hearing about proposed solutions to this problem.

Of course, the option that immediately pops into my head is hooking up a computer with an internet connection to automatically download an mp3 once/week and then just play it on repeat. I'm computer savvy, in general, and I have some coding experience, but I'm basically a programming and networking novice. If this really is the best, cheapest option then can you please give me some very specific advice with where to start. I'm thinking cheap, bare-bones machines running linux, but I have no idea how to setup the networking, security, and automation or what language I should be learning to try to do this.

The other draw-back to the idea where a computer just sits on a network waiting for a new upload is that most of the locations don't have internet in the first place. It'd require all of the locations to pay for new internet service which seems like a waste of money in the eyes of the people that are paying for this thing. Do you think that a good work around would be doing some sort of scheduled dial-up connection once/week? If so, what, specifically should I look into to making that happen.

Thoughts on what the audio playback system looks like would also be appreciated (stereo, speakers, etc).

I really want to make this work, and I have until the fall to come up with something that works.

Shoelace Clock problem

noether — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 13:55:50 -0800

I have a problem that asks what is the smallest time interval that you can accurately measure with a shoelace that burns at a non-constant rate, matches and a pair of scissors. I think this is just one of a whole family of problems like this. Where can I find other problems like this? Help me find the solution to this problem. Complete statement of the problem: You are given some matches, a shoelace, and a pair of scissors. The shoelace burns like a fuse at a non-constant rate and takes 60 minutes to burn. However, it has a symmetry property: the burn rate at a distance x from the left end is the same as the burn rate at the same distance x from the right end. What is the smallest time interval that you can accurately measure with this shoelace?

Is there a word for a solution arrived at by subconscious means?

melissa may — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 02:15:28 -0800

Is there a word or concise phrase in any language that means "to walk away from a problem, and return to it later with the solution immediately obvious"? Also, if there's a word or phrase (again, in any tongue) that means "the unquestionably perfect solution, so right that there can be no better answer," I'd like to know that as well.