IMAGINATION 



case of popliteal aneurism. So the Hunterian operation, as it is 

 known in surgery to-day, came into an assured existence.^^ An 

 insatiable curiosity seems to have been the driving force behind 

 Hunter's prolific mind which laid the foundation of modem 

 surgery. He even paid the expenses of a surgeon to go and 

 observe whales for him in the Greenland fisheries. 



Discussion as a stimulus to the mind 



Productive mental effort is often helped by intellectual inter- 

 course. Discussing a problem with colleagues or with lay 

 persons may be helpful in one of several ways. 



(a) The other person may be able to contribute a useful 

 suggestion. It is not often that he can help by directly indicating 

 a solution of the impasse, because he is unlikely to have as 

 much pertinent knowledge as has the scientist working on the 

 problem, but with a different background of knowledge he may 

 see the problem from a different aspect and suggest a new 

 approach. Even a layman is sometimes able to make useful 

 suggestions. For example, the introduction of agar for making 

 solid media for bacteriology was due to a suggestion of the 

 wife of Koch's colleague Hesse. ^* 



{h) A new idea may arise from the pooling of information 

 or ideas of two or more persons. Neither of the scientists alone 

 may have the information necessary to draw the inference which 

 can be obtained by a combination of their knowledge. 



{c) Discussion provides a valuable means of uncovering errors. 

 Ideas based on false information or questionable reasoning may 

 be corrected by discussion and likewise unjustified enthusiasms 

 may be checked and brought to a timely end. The isolated 

 worker who is unable to talk over his work with colleagues will 

 more often waste his time in following a false trail. 



[d) Discussion and exchange of views is usually refreshing, 

 stimulating and encouraging, especially when one is in difficulties 

 and worried. 



{e) The most valuable function of discussion is, I believe, to 

 help one to escape from an established habit of thought which 

 has proved fruitless, that is to say, from conditioned thinking. 

 The phenomenon of conditioned thinking is discussed in the 

 next section. 



63 



