Got a problem? Write a forum post and solve it before you click post? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 06:16:15 am
content: Seems that you can sometimes solve problems that you are stuck on simply by taking the effort to write a post...Does the act of having to describe your problem in a way that others will undersand somehow trigger additional though that solves the problem?

author: lincoln
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 06:51:20 am
content: yep, all the time. some thing about having to organize and describe the problem to some one else forces you to step back and look as the problem as a whole.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 06:59:01 am
content: Good Service manuals with "principles of operation" or "circuit description" along with a workshop repair log sometimes sidesteps the process you describe, but yeah, we hear you.

author: ConKbot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 07:13:58 am
content: "Does the act of having to describe your problem in a way that others will undersand somehow trigger additional though that solves the problem?"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debuggingyep!

author: Galenbo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 09:01:25 am
content: Quote from: mrpackethead on December 11, 2015, 06:16:15 amOr finding a solution while asking the question to a collegue. Happened to me some times.

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 07:09:39 pm
content: Quote from: tautech on December 11, 2015, 06:59:01 amService manuals doknt' exisit for something new!

author: hli
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 08:14:44 pm
content: Quote from: ConKbot on December 11, 2015, 07:13:58 am+1 that. Works at least 50% of the time.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2015, 08:06:16 pm
content: Sometimes.As I get more and more expert at things, I find my worst problems are either those with no solution (e.g., something they bunged up in Windows that has absolutely no workaround or patch -- usually software with these poor design decisions), or it's something that literally no one else else has encountered or has any idea about, anyway (e.g., subtleties in analog design).Tim

author: briselec
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2015, 09:51:11 pm
content: My most successful technique by far is simply stepping away from the problem for 5 minutes. It's amazing how many times I've been stuck on something, decided to take a break and within a couple of minutes the solution suddenly pops in my head or I think of a better, more effective approach.

author: Galenbo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 10:01:59 am
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on December 12, 2015, 08:06:16 pmMakes me think of the times I searched on Google, and find somebody with exactly the same problem, in a post from 3 years ago.Who are you? Did you find a solution? Where are you?Makes me feel abandoned in space.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 11:05:31 am
content: I'll add my +1 to the responses.On more than one occasion, I've actually started describing a problem to my wife who will patiently just stand there and let me continue. More than half the time I never get to the end of the tale when an idea pops into my head, whereupon I would thank her and duck off to the workshop.Later in the day I will say to her "You didn't understand what the heck I was talking about before, did you?" and she would reply "Not a word."

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 08:26:34 pm
content: Quote from: Galenbo on December 15, 2015, 10:01:59 amhttps://xkcd.com/979/

author: Galenbo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2015, 08:58:53 am
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on December 15, 2015, 08:26:34 pm:-)

author: KedasProbe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2016, 02:48:37 pm
content: A second look at your code always helps:"Who wrote this piece of shit code!? never-mind it was me, lets call it a feature not a bug."

author: John_ITIC
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 08, 2016, 04:56:29 am
content: I always write down *everything* I do in my project. Even things like "recompiling project" and "printing schematics"... I have found that this keeps things structured. Having this discipline during research takes time but I have found that it forces me to think in a more structured manner. I ended up with this approach once my projects were larger than I could keep in my head. It is also useful to avoid trying the same thing several times during debugging. This is also why I end up with thousands of pages of research notes after each project...But you are right, sometimes the solution comes when forced to think through the problem thoroughly enough to be able to explain it to someone else.