Heuristic

Cogito ergo sum Logic and rhetoric

Key articles

Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument

General logic

Appeal to emotion Morton's fork Negative conclusion from affirmative premises Escape to the future Intuition pump Hierarchy of disagreement

Bad logic

Poisoning the well Selection bias Appeal to censorship Ham Hightail Ad hoc Argument from desire v - t - e

A heuristic is a technique, process, or method for finding a solution to a given problem, or finding an explanation for a given set of circumstances. Typical heuristics are "trial and error", "educated guesses", and "rules of thumb". In science, the heuristic known as Occam's razor is often employed to interpret the merit of hypotheses.

The word derives from the Latin heuristicus, which is derived from the Ancient Greek "Εὑρίσκω", meaning "to find" or "to discover". Despite the fancy origins, the word itself was only coined in the mid-19^th century. However, heuristics themselves have been around for a very long time, probably since the emergence of the capacity for abstract thought. The ability to use heuristics is one of the (many) defining features of sentience.

Heuristics are techniques which have been shown experientially to be superior to non-heuristic techniques (such as random guessing or considering every possibility). However, it is important to note that employing a heuristic is no guarantee of success for solving a problem or finding the truth of a situation.

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