Comment by gchamonlive

> Wouldn't it be nice if you just had a general method you could apply to solve everything?

Would it? Why?

> But the reality is there's no single approach we can take.

> I know, I know, this is all so deeply... unsatisfying.

Why is it so unsatisfying?

This is the only thing that I disagree with the post, that this need to have a general approach to solving problems is necessary for solving problems to be satisfying. What is so disconcerting about a problem that seems to be unsolvable? Why do we need to solve everything immediately?

Maybe it's important not only to accept, but to embrace the fact that there is a sort of magic to the process of creativity that we can't capture in a bottle. But for that to happen we need to divorce ourselves from the necessity of productivity. This way we are more likely to be able to just sit with the problem without beating ourselves over not being able to solve it and without feeling like the problem owe us a resolution in return for our efforts.

It doesn't prevent anyone however from pursuing better tools and more general approaches to systematizing thought and problem solving. We can do both -- tackling a problem creatively or systematically -- as long as we feel like we are able to choose doing it. I think if we feel like we must find these general methods, they will likely elude us indefinitely.