to the deductionist there is something to be said about Sherlock Holmes's partner
in crime or rather partner and solving crime dr. John Watson
Holmes and Watson are in many ways opposites Watson like any other average person
takes in bits and pieces of data here and there without recognizing their
significance or lack thereof and without having a specific purpose for
storing that data whereas Holmes is extremely focused and determines what
will be useful to him and his work before he goes and researchers that data
this gives Holmes organization laser focus and purpose with his thought
process he famously doesn't know that the earth goes around the Sun not
because he is too daft to understand the concept but that from his point of view
it has no bearing on anything he does had he chosen the field of astrophysics
as opposed to detective work he would certainly see Copernican theory as
relevant now this stark contrast creates an interesting dichotomy that begs the
question what is Watson's purpose in Holmes's work it should come as no
surprise that Holmes is calculated in almost everything he does from the
observations he makes the very steps he takes everything he does is a purpose
behind it even that which might seem whimsical to the casual observer is
planned out in his mind to ensure the best results as a result it stands to
reason that there would be some purpose in having Watson around and indeed there
are today we'll be focusing on two the first being having someone to talk to
nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another person this is the
fundamental purpose of the Watson factor speaking your deductions out loud allows
you to reevaluate them for those of you who watched my collaboration with
practical psychology a few months back you saw that a lot of the tips that I
gave revolved around the concept of checking your deductions and I can't
stress that enough reevaluating your conclusions and cross-referencing them
with the data multiple we'll help you find any inconsistencies
in your deductions helping you to make sure that you came to the right
conclusion a study was conducted by the American psychology Association which
concluded that quote "the results appeared to indicate that requiring
S's to verbalise during practice has the effect of making them think of new
reasons for their moves and thus facilitates both the discovery of
general principles and their employment in solving successive problems" the
theory behind why thinking out loud helps in all things ranging from
problem-solving to memorization is that it forces you to slow down and
consciously go through each aspect of a problem in order to formulate it into a
coherent sentence this lines up with what we have talked about before in
terms of mindfulness the more conscious attention you put into something the
more investment you have in it and therefore your brain will see that
subject is important because you've used more energy and resources than is by
default needed so really you don't need someone to talk to in theory you just
need to think out loud however for most people it is difficult to hold a
conversation with well nothing sometimes it is enough to just talk to an
inanimate object like the last shred of your childhood or something like a
trusted pet both of which I have done for Holmes he has his skull however as
Sherlock said to John in the episode one of Sherlock bringing a skull around
with him just draws attention however on the flip side of that coin having
someone that can talk back does help in other ways sometimes Watson might say
something that is well incorrect but it gets home thinking about things from a
different angle again harkening back to the BBC Sherlock in the Hound of the
Baskervilles episode John confuses headlights for Morse code while entirely
incorrect and having no bearing on the case whatsoever the idea gets Sherlock
thinking about acronyms which gets him to think of the word Hound as an acronym
H.O.U.N.D. which puts him on the path solving the case Sherlock even says in
that scene that some people who are not geniuses themselves have the
extraordinary ability of stimulating it in others even if the person you are
talking to is not a problem-solver necessarily they see things from a
different point of view than you meaning they can potentially bring something to
light that you might not even have considered however there
is another potential benefit of having a watson factor and that is to draw
attention away from yourself so that you can observe people in social situations
without having to engage with them socially and before you even say oh wow
you're such a recluse I mean you must really people that's the way you do
things hear me out I'm not telling you to be a
recluse however when you are talking to someone you have to allocate attention
to the conversation with them meaning that you have to sacrifice attention
that you could be focusing on making deductions about that person or perhaps
you just focus on making deductions about them so much that in mid sense you
just stop and stare at a stain on their shirt do you're just trying to interpret
as to its origin having someone who can carry a conversation on your behalf as
you make deductions can help you get into the habit of making deductions
while a person is talking with this practice making deductions while you
are talking to someone will come a lot easier that is a final note you don't
have to limit yourself to one Watson factor it should also be noted that your
Watson factor can also see you as a watson factor if you find someone who is
also practicing deduction the two of you can work off of each other's deductions
and logic and reasoning this is sometimes what happens when I get
talking to Sherrinford or Observe also remember that the aim is not to
make yourself look smarter or anything like that by creating a contrast between
you a problem solver and someone who is not a problem solver the object is to
evaluate and reevaluate your deductions and open up new avenues of thought that
you might not have considered because of the way you are inclined to see the
world the whole idea of having a watson factor is based on the inherent
skepticism you should have in your own conclusions and thought processes having
someone to talk to opens your mind makes you more analytical and objective and
those are two key things that increase your deductive abilities
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well thanks for watching all you aspiring detectives out there
Arrivederci