THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

pro bono humani generis
1230 YORK AVENUE - NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10021-6399

Joshua Lederberg
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

May 30, 1997

Dr. Wm. J. McGuire
Dept. Psychology
Yale University

Dear Dr. McGuire J

I enjoyed your article in AR Psych "Creative hypothesis generating in psychology: some
useful heuristics"

It was particular fun to see the examples. Where is the work-book material you alluded to?

My riposte is an almost unreadable article, enclosed. You probably don’t want to see more
about DENDRAL, but that is available if you like.

One of these days I will try to deconstruct your recipes into the systematic (irredundant,
exhaustive) matrix I advocate, which has some affinity to your 26-29. And as a geneticist, of
course, I always have recourse to J-30: I would ask, what are other possible meta-theories of
comparable scope to evolution? One that occurs to me is developmental/epigenetic. And one
thinks of what disciplines like economics might have to offer. (I often role-play what I think
a range of my colleagues across the camnpus would do if they were confronted with the data
I had collected; or what data would they be seeking. Or what style different national cultures
or funding agencies would be demanding.)

ours si y;

a Lederberg

email: lederberg@rockvax.rockefeller.edu

Sysigbet 2/88

WwW

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