"TimR" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, March 4, 2014 9:22:36 AM UTC-5, Robert Green wrote:
IOW, a decent technical ability but not good diagnostic skills. One
thing I
like about Usenet is that it's very easy to evaluate the problem-solving
ability of most posters by the solutions they recommend. Some people
don't
bother to read the question thoroughly (although to be fair, many enter
a
thread well after the "setup" has been described) and others don't
consider
the circumstances of the OP. As you've noted many times, people often
post
woefully incomplete descriptions of their problems. That doesn't stop
some
people from offering specific solutions. (-:.

I work with some engineers like that. They're pretty good at design,
they'll single mindedly
focus until they solve the problem, however difficult.

It's amazing how many fields require that sort of focus, from criminal
investigation to archeology. I was reading about the mini-ice age that
occurred 13,000 years ago. Some people think it was caused by the eruption
of a huge volcano:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laacher_See

while others believe it was caused by a large meteorite or comet striking
the North American ice sheet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger...act_hypothesis

There's considerable evidence to support both theories and I think that
eventually the cause will be determined when enough evidence is collected.
Even though a collision with a meteorite/comet probably melted and left no
crater, like a gunshot wound, there are lots of particles left behind that
can tell the story (in this case, it hinges on micro-diamonds and
"fullerenes" - which only form under unusual conditions. Ironically, it's a
little like a criminal investigation - the pieces fill in slowly but
eventually.

And they think they're good at diagnosis, but they're a disaster. They
fixate on the first idea, and then that same single minded focus prevents
them from considering any other root cause, regardless of how much evidence
says they're wrong.

That's very similiar to how criminal investigators get a "suspect lock" and
doctors get a "diagnosis lock" and as you say, they stop looking for other
possible explanations. They fixate on bolstering the suspect/disease they've
"locked onto" and tend to exclude all other evidence.

The key to good troubleshooting is to resist finding the cause as long as
possible. As soon as you know what's wrong, you are incapable of seeing the
other symptoms that prove it couldn't be that.

Absolutely. It's a very common problem in troubleshooting and it's zapped
me more that a few times in trying to diagnose computer problems.

--
Bobby G.