TY  - JOUR
T1  - COping with novelty
AU  - Shands HC
Y1  - 1969/01/01
N1  - 10.1001/archpsyc.1969.01740130066005
JO  - Archives of General Psychiatry
SP  - 64
EP  - 70
VL  - 20
IS  - 1
N2  - FOR THOSE so inclined, theorizing offers itself as an endlessly fascinating game. Like mountain-climbing, theorizing hardly ever presents the danger of a final resolution, even though the attainment of a partial insight from time to time enhances the interest of the game. The rule of the game is simple; it is to cover the largest possible number of observations with the smallest possible number of assumptions, according to a principle of parsimony. Wigner1 defines the objective of physics as the "explanation of nature," going on to say that explanation involves "the establishment of a few simple principles which describe the properties of what is to be explained." The ultimate goal is to reduce description to the simplest terms; Szent-Gyorgy comments, "Science tends to generalize, and generalization means simplification."If theorizing is analogous to a game, then, to continue the mountain-climbing metaphor, the "Mount Everest"
SN  - 0003-990X
M3  - doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1969.01740130066005
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1969.01740130066005
ER  -