Why It Pays to Play Around - Issue 73: Play

The 19th-century physicist Hermann von Helmholtz compared his progress in solving a problem to that of a mountain climber "compelled to retrace his steps because his progress stopped." A mountain climber, von Helmholtz said, "hits upon traces of a fresh path, which again leads him a little further." The physicist's introspection provokes the question: How do creative minds overcome valleys to get to the next higher peak? Because thinking minds are different from evolving organisms and self-assembling molecules, we cannot expect them to use the same means--mechanisms like genetic drift and thermal vibrations--to overcome deep valleys in the landscapes they explore. But they must have some way to achieve the same purpose.