We can learn a lot from the study of Greek mythology and classical works. One good example of this is Ariadne’s thread, a logical algorithm derived from the tale of Ariadne. Ariadne’s thread is the solving of a problem with many possible answers through a rigorous application of logic to each possible option. However, we can learn more than just a brute force algorithm from this ancient tale.
Ariadne was in charge of the labyrinth that housed the Minotaur. Athens needed to sacrifice seven men and seven women every seven to nine years in order to prevent the minotaur from attacking Athens. One year, those requested by the minotaur included Theseus, the son of King Aegeus. Theseus agreed to enter the labyrinth, but with the intention to kill the beast and free the other sacrifices. Before he went into the labyrinth, Ariadne handed him a sword and a ball of thread, to help him navigate and escape the maze. This thread inspired the problem-solving heuristic of the same name mentioned above.
The critical part of using this thread was not just the application of it to all possible options, but the fact that Theseus could go back upon each of his mistakes and correct his path. He was only able to escape the labyrinth because he had a record.
Records are essential to us for the sake of improving on our mistakes and being able to predict future ones. Often, our memory will not suffice. We cannot keep that level of information in our head at all times, so we have deeply entrenched standards of maintaining records in places like businesses or athletic competitions. However, this inaccurate memory of ours can also prevent us from seeing how far we’ve come personally, and how we’ve gotten here. This is why it is good to have a record of past work or past ideas, to be able to see how our thought process and our personality has grown. This way we may be able to understand better how to develop from here or to predict what hardships we might face in the near future.
