Unfortunately, very little is known about the author. He has published a few texts and is said to live in San Francisco.

The above quote plausibly explains that, sometimes, deliberate thinking hinders insight because thinking often persists in the logical compulsion to transfer what we seek, or what we want to comprehend, to such logical deduction. A is followed by B etc.

And this is the case although the often unfortunately stupid common sense, is, by way of exception, completely right when recommending that you should think of something else when you cannot remember a name, a date or a place. If we do so, the term we are looking for suddenly springs to mind, at least mostly it does.

The reason for this is, of course, that, with this method, we have given ourselves over to free association, just trusting in the neuronal networks of our brains and, possibly, of our bodies too. Hence, when giving a talk and sensing that we will not remember a name or date in the next part of our speech, it’s best not to think about it, but to simply keep on talking. Or, when we are writing and get stuck, it’s good to stop and read something else, play speed chess or watch something insignificant on TV or elsewhere. In other words: freeing up the mind, giving it a bit of a break.