THE ART OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION 



them down in rough outUne. Within the next few nights I would 

 have sudden spells of awakening, with an onrush of illustrative 

 instances, pertinent phrases, and fresh ideas related to those 

 already listed. Paper and pencil at hand permitted the capture 

 of these fleeting thoughts before they faded into oblivion. The 

 process has been so common and so reliable for me that I have 

 supposed that it was at the service of everyone. But evidence indi- 

 cates that it is not." -^ 



Similarly, in preparing this book ideas have frequently come to 

 me at odd times of the day, sometimes when I was thinking of 

 it, sometimes when I was not. These were all jotted down and 

 later sorted out. 



These examples should be ample to enable the reader to under- 

 stand the particular sense in which I am using the word intuition 

 and to realise its importance in creative thinking. 



Most but not all scientists are familiar with the phenomenon of 

 intuition. Among those answering the questionnaire of Piatt and 

 Baker 33 per cent reported frequent, 50 per cent occasional, and 

 17 per cent no assistance from intuition. From other enquiries 

 also it is known that some people, so far as they are aware, never 

 get intuitions, or at any rate not striking ones. They have no com- 

 prehension of what an intuition is, and believe that they derive 

 their ideas only from conscious thinking. Some of these opinions 

 may be based on insufhcient examination of the working of one's 

 own mind. 



The examples cited may leave the reader with the impression 

 that all intuitions are correct or at least fruitful, which, if so, 

 would be inconsistent with what has been said about hypotheses 

 and ideas in general. Unfortunately intuitions, being but the 

 products of falUble human minds, are by no means always 

 correct. In Piatt and Baker's enquiry, 7 per cent of scientists 

 replying said their intuitions were always correct, and the 

 remainder gave estimates varying from 10 per cent to 90 per 

 cent of the intuitions as subsequently proving to be correct. 

 Even this is probably an unduly favourable picture, because 

 successful instances would tend to be remembered rather than 

 the unsuccessful. Several eminent scientists have stated that most 

 of their intuitions subsequently prove to be wrong and are 

 forgotten. 



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