Personality typing by brainscan

[Jim]

Heuristic seems to have slightly varying connotations in different fields. It's a technique for allowing someone to learn on their own with broad but limited guidance, or make a decision with a greater than average likelihood of success. Likening a heuristic to a rule of thumb is an apt analogy. A boxing heuristic might be "don't get hit in the head" and a marginally better one might be "Use your hands to cover your face and move your head around." As you mention, GP, the downside is that this it doesn't ensure the certainty of success with the same likelihood you might find when adhering to a detailed systematic approach and isn't necessarily based on sound principles. The benefit is that it allows for innovation outside of a pre-established system, which is why I don't ascribe to the idea that a heuristic need be only for the uninitiated.