**Mental shortcuts for solving problems quickly.** Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently. These rule-of-thumb strategies shorten decision-making time and allow people to function without constantly stopping to think about their next course of action. Heuristics are not a good thing, nor a bad thing. They have good and bad qualities. They are a significant contributor to [[Noise]] and [[Bias Index]]. The [[Systems Engineering Book of Knowledge|SEBoK]] defines heuristics as: > Principles learnt from practical experience that yet lack a scientific understanding as to the explanation of "why". > ([[Systems Engineering Book of Knowledge|SEBoK]] pg 92) **** # More ## Source - [[Thinking Fast and Slow]] - [How Heuristics Help You Make Quick Decisions](https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-heuristic-2795235) ## Related - [[Availability Heuristic]] - [[System 1]] - [[Noise]] - [[Bias Index]] - [[Satisficing]] - [[Rules of Thumb]]