An interesting paper was pointed out to me on Peirce-L (which has been oddly slow of late). The paper is "How to be a Successful Scientist" It's an odd paper - somewhere between cognitive science, philosophy of science and Steven Covey's Seven Habits. The authors ended up not with seven habits, "but rather 27 organized into 6 classes." Stealing from Peirce-L the summary of these that Pablo Wahnon made, let me list them. I think they are principles of wide application - well beyond just science.
1. Make new connections.
Broaden yourself to more than one field.
Read widely.
Use analogies to link things together.
Work on different projects at the same time.
Use visual as well as verbal representations.
Don't work on what everyone else is doing.
Use multiple methods.
Seek novel mechanisms.
2. Expect the unexpected.
Take anomalies seriously.
Learn from failures.
Recover from failures.
3. Be persistent.
Focus on key problems.
Be systematic and keep records.
Confirm early, disconfirm late.
4. Get excited.
Pursue projects that are fun.
Play with ideas and things.
Ask interesting questions.
Take risks.
5. Be sociable.
Find smart collaborators.
Organize good teams.
Study how others are successful.
Listen to people with experience.
Foster different cognitive styles.
Communicate your work to others.
6. Use the world.
Find rich environments.
Build instruments.
Test ideas.
Great summary. As I think back to my Ph.D., every good thing that happened was the result of at least one of those things listed.
Almost by chance I've arrived to your page. Just a minor correction for your record.
It was Jaime Nubiola who posted Thagard's list of habits of highly creative people in the Peirce-L on the 12th of October. Pablo made only some personal comment to my message. I'm a philosopher interested in the issue of creativity.
Jaime Nubiola (jnubiola@unav.es)
I've closed comments in order to avoid spam since I don't check this older blog as much anymore.
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