Eureka !

We all know the story of Archimedes who shouted out loud:

Eureka! i.e. I have found (it) !

The story says, it struck him when was relaxing in his bath, thinking about a hard problem related to the physics of fluids.

But why did he have to shout out ? Some say he, then, jumped out of his bath, naked, running in Syracuse’s streets like a fool or maybe an illuminated man? Yeah, sure, he had found it, and then what? Was the emotion so great that he had to lose control? From my little experience, I can tell you that the Eureka feeling is not something to diminish. It may even be what is really driving Science, far more than all the money in the world or the most seductive partner. I am talking for theoretical sciences, like mathematics, physics and philosophy.

I argue that the Eureka feeling is like a drug. Man may feel in darkness when he is confused and it is a very uncomfortable position. So, he looks for an exit, his head heats up as the brain strives to get out of the unknown. When, finally, the Eureka feeling comes, something ignites, somewhere, and it rapidly spreads through the neuronal network. Then, a gentle breeze brushes the smoke screen that was in his head and an new world appear. Psychologists commonly call it the cognitive ease feeling. That’s how I feel now and let me explain why.

I am attending a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) called “mathematical thinking” and I solved many problems in the last 6 weeks. It was all right for me because, it’s a university entry level course and I have already been through most of the concepts. Also, I had the occasion of refreshing my memories with one of the best mathematic teacher in the world, Keith Devlin from Stanford University.

So last week, was the final exam week. I started early and I quickly answered all, but one question: number 7. Question 7 tortured me (also with my consent) for several days. I scribbled attempts of answers, sometimes thinking they were true, but then proving the opposite.

A few days before the deadline I decided to change strategy. I kept in mind the problem and I went for a walk. I walked with my hands in the back, looking around the sky, or on the ground, like a detective looking for a clue. When I came back home, I sat down, tried question 7 again, but still, no results. So, I scouted the class’s forum for insights and found a URL to an easy solution (or so they said). Hopefully, I resisted the temptation to read it: resolving the problem was the core of the course ; and I thought that “posting a known wrong proof was more honourable than an unknown truth”. My eyebrows were stuck in the frowning position for the rest of the day.

So how did I get the solution? Well, good question…. The night before the deadline, I was trying to sleep and, finally, I got it . It was waiting below my pillow. Since, I am smiling, less tensed and happy. It’s magic and I didn’t take any drug, nor did I eat too much ivorian chocolate. I feel Zen. I suspect the Eureka effect to have altered my mind’s chemicals. It has been three days since my small discovery and I’m still sailing under a beautiful sky.

Yes ! A new world is shaping my horizon. A world where all mathematicians and truth lovers are adepts of an Eureka Gourou showing the Tao Te (道德).

“Thinking hard and hardly thinking” is his motto.

sheers!