Gaze Heuristic
Updated 2026-08-05
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A baseball player catching a high fly ball does not solve the parabola. The player follows one simple rule: keep your eyes on the ball and adjust your running speed so that the ball stays at a constant angle of elevation. The gaze heuristic is the general form of this: for a dynamically moving target, hold one cue fixed and let your trajectory be generated by the rule instead of by computing the whole problem. For business it means finding the single metric, such as user growth, and keeping its rate steady rather than solving the whole field. Qualification: the heuristic works because the fixed cue is causally tied to the goal.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Cue selection: find the one metric whose steady progress implies the goal is being reached. - Rule not model: set a simple rule that holds the cue constant instead of computing the full system. - Trajectory trust: let the rule generate your next action and resist recalculating the whole field.
Anchor fast decisions
Some dynamic control problems can be solved by holding a single relation fixed rather than by computing the trajectory. Keeping the target at a constant elevation angle constrains the fielder's path so that it converges on the interception point, and the rule does the work that the physics would. The cue must be genuinely coupled to the goal, or the rule steers elsewhere.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze_heuristicverified
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