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1.9. Bionics (also called biomimetics or biomechanics)

How To Invent (Almost) Anything > 1. Analytic Invention > 1.9. Bionics (also called biomimetics or biomechanics)

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Nature has already solved a lot of problems through years of evolution and you can steal from this hoard of inventions by finding the principle behind your problem then asking where and how nature might have solved it. For example, solve optical problems by looking at the eye; for camouflage look at the colouring of many animals; if you have a cooling problem, look at rabbit’s ears or sweat glands.

Nature has also solved many social problems—just look at the number of marital arrangements out there, ranging from lions, with a single male and many working females, to spiders where the make ‘coming for dinner’ has a whole new meaning. Whatever your problem, try asking ‘What natural situations are like this?’ and ‘ How has nature solved this?’
 

Other logical/analytic tools:

• Decomposition
  • 1.1. Chunking
  • 1.2. Attribute Analysis
  • 1.3. Value Analysis
• Questioning
  • 1.4. Purpose Analysis
  • 1.5. Causal breakdown: the Cause-Effect Diagram
  • 1.6. Root Cause Analysis / Five Whys
  • 1.7. Causal Chains: sequences of events
  • 1.8. Critical Thinking
  • 1.9. Bionics
  • 1.10. 5W1H
  • 1.11. SCAMPER
  • 1.12. Verbs

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