Johannes Müller (heuristic)

Johannes Müller on February 27, 1972

Johannes Max Müller (born August 17, 1921 in Oschatz ; † April 9, 2008 ) was a German heuristic , the founder of systematic heuristics (SH) and a pioneer of engineering methodology.

Life

Johannes Müller already dealt with engineering thinking in his dissertation (1964). Then he analyzed at the University of Mechanical Engineering, Karl-Marx-Stadt (today TU Chemnitz ), in his habilitation thesis . the methodical approach of natural scientists and engineers . The concept of systematic heuristics was created. First thoughts on this were published in 1968. To take this approach further, Johannes Müller founded in 1968 at the College of Engineering, the working group " methodology of Technical Sciences " and organized in Bärenstein (Erzgebirge) courses for researchers and developers from the GDR - industry .

In 1969 the systematic heuristic was institutionalized . The methodology working group was transferred to the systematic heuristics department and removed from the University of Mechanical Engineering, Karl-Marx-Stadt. The SH department, based in Karl-Marx-Stadt , became part of the Academy for Marxist-Leninist Organizational Science (AMLO), Berlin. Its task was to introduce systematic heuristics in four major research centers in the GDR in order to increase the effectiveness of research and development . Under the direction of Johannes Müller, this department consisted of around 25 scientists and engineers who were recruited from universities, technical colleges and the GDR industry.

In the years 1969 to 1972 the systematic heuristic was successfully applied in numerous development projects in mechanical engineering , the chemical industry ( Leuna and Schwedt) and electronics ( Robotron ). The Central Institute for Welding Technology in Halle / Saale (ZIS, Werner Gilde ) was a methodological “test field” for Johannes Müller, which he oversaw until 1986. This institute has also published the most important articles on systematic heuristics as ZIS-Mitteilungen.

For ideological reasons, the SH department was dissolved again in 1972. Under the direction of Johannes Müller, the employees of the SH department documented their knowledge in the third edition of the program library . The planned computer support for the systematic heuristics could not be started.

Johannes Müller then continued to work with a small group of scientists under the umbrella of the Central Institute for Cybernetics and Information Processes (ZKI at the AdW , Berlin, Horst Völz ). Until 1981 he investigated heuristic processes from an IT point of view. Then he concentrated on the working methods of the technical sciences and his main work, the publication of the monograph , in which he comprehensively analyzed and presented the "systematic problem-solving methods with and without the use of computers" in machine and device construction. The latest development status of the systematic heuristic is also documented here. After reunification , he worked hard to establish construction science in Germany.

Systematic heuristics

The Systematic heuristic is a technology of intellectual labor. It is a system of methods for dealing with tasks and problem-solving processes in the fields of science and technology . In order to avoid ideological difficulties, Johannes Müller strictly rejected requests to extend this system of methods to the social sciences .

The principle of systematic heuristics is to deal with recurring problem classes using methods that have proven effective in the past. These methods are called programs and are made available in a program library for reuse . The working regime of problem solving is prescribed by the main program of the systematic heuristics and specified for the respective task. The systems science working method (SWAW) and the conceptual apparatus are part of the main program.

Knowledge of methodical thinking

In the course of developing and applying the systematic heuristic, essential knowledge and insights into human thinking were gained:

The competence and effectiveness of a problem solver depend to a large extent on how far he has methods and mental structures that can be invariably applied to extensive classes of tasks in his profession . They guarantee a quick overview and enable the implementation of his wealth of experience and knowledge . After all observations, however, an engineer or scientist unconsciously acquires, stores and manages such structures and he also unconsciously uses them in normal operation to plan and control his work process . Only when his competence is exceeded in the upcoming problem-solving process does he switch to rational operation (preferably conscious thinking). Then he also consciously uses his stock of methods and consciously develops them further. Subject and method-specific database systems can be useful as information carriers, but they do not provide intelligence .

With the application of systematic heuristic in the GDR - industry could be proven: When researchers and developers guided by a working regime and additionally by methodology specialists with the systematic heuristic work, they are actually more effective than before. For example , individual problem solvers can be qualified without extensive organization through inventor schools . With the complex systematic heuristic, on the other hand, the greatest effects are achieved when the operation of entire areas is changed.

People appreciate routine and manage most of their lives with it. Johannes Müller put it pointedly: "It is not human nature (preferably rationally dominated) to work spiritually." People only use their intellect when there is no other way out! He avoids systematic problem solving for as long as possible, because they mean stress and effort . That is why researchers and developers "normally" put each method system aside. A very important finding from the industrial application of systematic heuristics.

Methodical procedures and systematic problem solving have proven their worth, but they are at most to be seen as a first approximation of the thought structures actually operating in the intellectual process. They support the problem-solving process and make it manageable - like the grammar , the ability to speak easier. However, this process has not been clarified.

The results of brain research have now confirmed facts about human behavior and thinking that Johannes Müller formulated as a methodologist and construction scientist in the 1970s and 80s.

Political environment

Johannes Müller had developed a technology for intellectual work , and the political circumstances in the GDR after the construction of the Berlin Wall matched it until 1972: Research, development and effectiveness were high-priority goals. This was the only way to try to keep pace with the economic development of West Germany ( New Economic System , NÖS). In 1969, through direct intervention by Walter Ulbricht (initiated by Werner Gilde , ZIS, Halle / Saale), the Systematic Heuristics department at the Academy for Marxist-Leninist Organizational Science (AMLO), Berlin, was founded.

Walter Ulbricht disregarded suspicions of the University of Mechanical Engineering in Karl-Marx-Stadt , which brought party proceedings against Johannes Müller for “ de-ideologizing the Marxist-Leninist philosophy ”. He was charged with the management of the SH department.

The systematic heuristic was demonstrably used successfully in the large research centers of the GDR. Nevertheless, in 1971 after the decision VIII. Party , the Politburo of the SED , the Academy of Marxist-Leninist Organization Science (AMLO), Berlin, and with it the departments SH and operations research to resolve. Walter Ulbricht was replaced by Erich Honecker in May 1971 . With the new political objective of unity of economic and social policy , Kurt Hager ( ideology ) prevailed against Günter Mittag ( economy ). For some members of the Politburo (Kurt Hager, Otto Reinhold ) the “purity of teaching” and the “unshakable class standpoint ” were more important than scientific knowledge and economic success. For them it was unacceptable that socialism should be built with technocratic (= ideology-free) methods.

Publications (selection)

First publication of the program library for systematic heuristics

• 1964: About dialectics in engineering thinking. Karl Marx University Leipzig, KMUL, dissertation.
• 1965: About dialectics in engineering thinking. Institute for technical schools of the GDR In: German magazine for philosophy. Volume 13, Issue 9, pp. 1094–1109, doi : 10.1524 / dzph. 1965.13.9.1094 (currently not available) .
• 1966: Operations and Procedures of Problem Solving Thinking in Constructive Engineering Work - A Methodological Study. KMUL Leipzig, Leipzig, Phil. F., habilitation thesis from November 23, 1966.
• 1967: To determine the terms "technology" and "technical law". In: German magazine for philosophy. Volume 15, Issue 12, pp. 1431–1449, doi : 10.1524 / dzph.1967.15.12.1431 (currently not available) .
• 1968: Approach to a systematic heuristic. In: German magazine for philosophy. Volume 16, Issue 6, pp. 698-718, doi : 10.1524 / dzph.1968.16.6.698 (currently not available) .
• 1969: Systematic heuristics for engineers . Technical and scientific treatises of the ZIS. No. 59, Central Institute for Welding Technology (ZIS), Halle / Saale.
• 1970: Program library for systematic heuristics for natural scientists and engineers. Technical and scientific treatises of the ZIS. No. 69, Central Institute for Welding Technology (ZIS), Halle / Saale.
• 1970: Basics of systematic heuristics. Berlin, Dietz Verlag Berlin.
• 1973: with Peter Koch (ed.) And 31 authors: program library for systematic heuristics for natural scientists and engineers. Third edition, Technical and Scientific Treatises by ZIS, No. 97, 98 and 99, Central Institute for Welding Technology (ZIS), Halle / Saale.
• 1977: Theoretical foundations for evaluating information with regard to its function in the intellectual processing process. ZKI Informations, Berlin, No. 4, pp. 60–71.
• 1977: with Werner Gilde: Procedure for analyzing inventions for their patentability. ZKI Informations Berlin, No. 4, pp. 189–204.
• 1980: You have to apply methods. Technical and scientific treatises of the ZIS. No. 132, Central Institute for Welding Technology (ZIS), Halle / Saale.
• 1980: Fundamental problems and possibilities of computational support in evaluation processes. In: Contributions to the problem seminar "Screen-supported construction", Technical University of Karl-Marx-Stadt, Karl-Marx-Stadt, pp. 90–128.
• 1983: On methodological problems in computer-aided product development. 7th colloquium on the theory and methodology of industrial design, University of Industrial Design, Halle / Saale.
• 1990: Working methods in technical sciences - systematics, heuristics, creativity. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, ISBN 3-540-51661-1 - Attached is a list of 46 publications by Johannes Müller.
• 1990: Method construction kit for overcoming problems of higher requirements in construction. (Last stage of development of the systematic heuristic). In: Working methods of technical sciences ... , Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, ISBN 3-540-51661-1 , pp. 139-218.
• 1994: Acceptance problems in industry about causes and ways to overcome them. In: Gerhard Pahl (editor) Psychological and pedagogical questions in methodical construction, Verlag TÜV-Rheinland, Cologne 1994, pp. 247–266.

literature

• Hans-Christoph Rauh, Peter Ruben: Attempts at thinking: GDR philosophy in the 60s. Research on the GDR society, Links, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86153-359-6 , p. 533.
• Gerhard Banse: Johann Beckmann and the consequences (= Cottbus studies on the history of technology, work and the environment , volume 17). Waxmann, Münster 2001, ISBN 3-8309-1091-6 , p. 30.
• Manuel Schramm: Economy and science in GDR and FRG. The category trust in innovation processes (= economic and socio-historical studies , volume 17). Böhlau, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20174-6 .
• Wonderfully gifted - large research centers, pioneering and top achievements in the GDR . In: Der Spiegel . No. 27 , 1971, p. 31 ( Online - June 28, 1971 ).

Web links

• Biography Der Heuristik-Müller, accessed on September 22, 2014
• History of technology Systematic heuristics, in Ingenieur-Nachrichten, Zeitschrift für Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Technik, Erfurt 2009, Issue 1, p. 26, accessed on September 22, 2014
• Systematic Heuristic What is Systematic Heuristic?, Accessed on September 22, 2014
• Thesis by Johannes Müller Presentation on Müller's thesis: Normally, humans don't think, accessed on September 22, 2014

See also

Thinking , methodology , methodology , heuristics , engineering science , design methodology , creativity , philosophy , Systematic heuristic , Werner guild .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Hans-Christoph Rauh, Peter Ruben: Attempts at thinking: GDR philosophy in the 60s. Research on the GDR society, Ch. Links Verlag 2005, ISBN 3861533596 p. 533
2. ↑ Wonderfully gifted - large research centers, pioneering and top achievements in the GDR. DER SPIEGEL 27/1971.
3. ↑ Einheit , Volume 25, Issues 7–12, Verlag Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, 1970, page 981.
4. ↑ Heuristic programming increases effectiveness. New Germany of February 14, 1970: p. 12.
5. ↑ 1973: with Peter Koch (ed.) And 31 authors: program library for systematic heuristics for natural scientists and engineers. Third edition, Technical and Scientific Treatises by ZIS, No. 97, 98 and 99, Central Institute for Welding Technology (ZIS), Halle / Saale.
6. ↑ 1980: Fundamental problems and possibilities of computational support in evaluation processes. In: Contributions to the problem seminar "Screen-supported construction", Technical University of Karl-Marx-Stadt, Karl-Marx-Stadt, pp. 90–128.
7. ↑ Central Institute for Cybernetics. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 13, 2014 ; accessed on September 13, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ 1990: Working methods in technical sciences - systematics, heuristics, creativity. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, ISBN 3-540-51661-1 .
9. ↑ 1994: Acceptance problems in industry about causes and ways to overcome them. In: Gerhard Pahl (editor) Psychological and pedagogical questions in methodical construction, Verlag TÜV-Rheinland, Cologne 1994, pp. 247–266.