“Word of the Week is your ‘shortcut’ to success.”
Heuristic adjective and noun pl. heuristics
hyu-RIS-tik
Definition adjective:
- hands-on learning that involves trial-and-error
- a “good enough” shortcut or simple rule of thumb that makes decision making or problem solving faster and easier but is prone to bias.
Definition noun: a shortcut or rule of thumb. Synonyms: educated guess, gut instinct.
Adverb: heuristically
Example sentences:
“The discovery and development of nibrozetone (RRx-001) and AdAPT-001 were fundamentally heuristic processes that relied to a large extent on trial-and-error”.
“Useful heuristics are “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “perfect is the enemy of good enough”.
“Stereotyping is a kind of heuristic.”
“Clinicians frequently use heuristics or mental shortcuts based on previous experiences and clinical cases to help with decision making”.
“Be simplistic, use a heuristic”.
Context:
The bread and butter of pharmaceutical companies like EpicentRx is research and development (R&D) where discoveries and innovations like nibrozetone (RRx-001) and AdAPT-001 are made possible through a heuristic or trial-and-error process.
About the Word:
German heuristisch, from New Latin heuristicus, equivalent to the Greek heuriskein, meaning “to discover.”