(Chapter 11 problem choice and solution will be in a separate blog post.)
My next stop was when I was reading through the Leapfrogs example. The part that stood out to me the most was the idea of "specializing", which I believe refers to the act of making toy examples as a way to grasp the question and set up for pattern recognition and ATTACKs. It reminded me of my days as a computer science student doing LeetCode and other computer science-related problems. These problems typically involved a data input (array, numbers, strings, etc.) and asked us to implement code that would return a desired data output. For example, we might be given a string of characters and asked to reverse it, and return the reversed product. While a simple example (a specialization of computer science problems, if you will), there are still considerations of things like edge cases (what should we do if the string has no characters?), assumptions (will the characters be entirely lowercase?), and all the regular test cases which are analogous to the various peg setups that were devised in Leapfrogs. The typical approach was similar too, as we'd approach the problems by making our own test cases and making sure our algorithm returns the intended output. Sometimes we'd miss an edge case, and we'd need to go back to the drawing board. Lots of parallels that I saw while reading these walkthroughs of math problems.
You mentioned that taking a long break helps you solve problems after feeling stuck, but I’ve noticed that when something is difficult, I tend to put it away as a form of avoidance. How do you manage the balance between genuinely needing a break and not using it as an escape from the challenge?
ReplyDeleteHello Malihe!
DeleteI do stand by my idea of taking long breaks to get unstuck, but I should probably clarify that it is not the only strategy to unstuck. Your point about long breaks possibly being avoidance is fair; if your break lasts long enough, you could be tempted to never address the challenge at hand.
For me, I usually let the threat of a deadline or some other extrinsic motivation push me to return from long breaks eventually and in a timely manner. Unfortunately, I am still figuring out how to manage the balance if I don't have these extrinsic motivators (i.e. just for fun, or optional work). Many times in my life would I attempt to solve a puzzle or do something difficult, but give up because there's no practical reason for me. For an example involving video games, there are parkour courses that people can make in Minecraft (obstacle courses), and once the course gets too hard I would just log off to save myself the effort (even though I keep telling myself I'd come back to finish the course).
However, I've noticed that a sense of pride, some competition, and even being able to see myself solving the challenge are some potential motivators that I can use to get myself unstuck from a long break. This has happened a few times in these Minecraft parkour obstacle courses, where I would be willing to put in the time and effort, and return to the challenge especially once I feel that my sunk cost has reached a critical point. ("I've put in too much time, I can't stop now!") It also requires my challenge-attempting to have ample time to work with, otherwise I'll be motivated to leave early because I have other things to do.
So in short:
- If there are extrinsic motivators, my sense of duty will make me return after a break.
- If there aren't and the challenge is just for fun, I struggle. However, an assortment of motivators such as pride and sunk cost can make me return to the challenge to finish the job.