What is Heuristics:
It is known as heuristics. set of techniques or methods to solve a problem. The word heuristic is of Greek origin εὑρίσκειν which means “find, invent.”
Heuristics is seen as the art of invention by human beings, with the intention of seeking strategies, methods, criteria, that allow solving problems through creativity, divergent or lateral thinking.
Also, it is stated that heuristics are based on the individual’s own experience and that of others to find the most viable solution to the problem.
For example, heuristics can be seen as a theory that stimulates the thinking of the individual charged with analyzing all the materials collected during an investigation.
In this sense, it can be stated that it is related to making decisions in order to solve a problem, without ensuring that the option taken is the most suitable.
Now, heuristics as a scientific discipline, and in its broadest sense, can be applied to any science with the purpose of developing means, principles, rules or strategies to help find the most effective and efficient solution to the problem analyzed by the individual. .
There are several heuristic procedures that are divided into:
Heuristic principlesare the ones who establish suggestions to find the ideal solution to the problem.
Heuristic rulesare those that indicate the means to solve the problem.
Heuristic strategiesare those that allow you to organize the compiled materials or resources that contribute to the search for the solution to the problem.
As such, the term heuristic can be used as a noun and an adjective. As a noun, it refers to the science or art of discovery, considered as a discipline that has the character of being investigated.
Now, in the case of being used as an adjective, it indicates the principles, rules and strategies suitable for finding the solution to the problem.
Heuristics was a term used by Albert Einstein in the publication on the photoelectric effect, in the article titled, translated into Spanish, “On a heuristic point of view concerning the production and transformation of light”, whose publication awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
heuristic method
It is the set of methods and techniques that are used in order to find and solve a problem in those cases where it is difficult to find an optimal or satisfactory solution.
For this reason, in scientific disciplines the heuristic method is usually used in order to achieve the best result when faced with a specific problem.
Heuristics have existed since ancient Greece, however, this term was popularized by the mathematician George Pólya, in his book “How to Solve It”, in which he explains the heuristic method to his mathematics students, and to all those who wanted to learn about the discipline. , citing four examples:
If you can’t understand a problem, draw a diagram. If you can’t find the solution, pretend you already have it and see what you can deduce from it (reasoning in reverse). If the problem is abstract, try examining a concrete example. Try address a more general problem first and review.
For his part, the philosopher and mathematician Lakato established that heuristics is a set of methods or rules that can be positive or negative, which indicate which are the ideal actions that can generate solutions to the problem.
In his work on a scientific research program, Lakato indicated that every program includes a structure that can serve as a guide in a positive or negative way.
In relation to the above, the positive heuristic It is the one that establishes the guidelines for how to develop a research program.
Instead, the negative heuristic of a program indicates what cannot be changed or modified, known as the central core.
For example, in computing, heuristics consist of finding or building algorithms with good speed to be executed such as computer games or programs that detect if an email is a spam or not.
See also the meaning of Method.