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‘m getting to the point where I am seriously thinking of commencing my next software project. It will based upon much of my recent exploits in generative sciences, complexity theory, network medicine and systems biology. What makes it interesting is that the informatics will probably proceed from two independent starting points, one dichotomous and cladistic, the other heuristic and pattern-driven. If all comes out right they will eventually meet at the interface that identifies the most significant and information-rich point of biological intervention.

Sort of like a mime when he discovers a glass wall.

Heuristics are kind of an interesting take on problem solving: sort of like algorithms but without a backbone. Sometimes described as ‘rules of thumb’ they can often help solve difficult problems through the application of simple rules. An example heuristic for driving a car on a fog-bound mountain road might be as simple as ‘keep going up.’

Anyway, I decided that the world needs a simplified heuristic generator for those moments of problem-solving deadlock. So I wrote one.

If you click the box it will open new window in your browser and a random heuristic will be displayed. Many of these heuristics are from a seminal work on the subject by George Pólya (1).

Enjoy the tool and think of it next time you run up against a problem or creative endeavor.

1. Pólya, George (1945). How to Solve It. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-08097-6.

Tags: complexity | George Pólya | heuristics | White Cube