arrive in a flash of insight

[keannu]

The translation for "arrive in a flash of insight" is "reach a flash of insight", which implies "the answers happened before the sight", but I think it's wrong, I think "arrive in a flash of insight" means "the answers happens in the middle of flash of insight". Doesn't it?

is26
ex)Mark Jung-Beeman, a cognitive psychologist at Northwestern Univerisy, has spent the last fifteen years trying to understand how the brain, led by the prefrontal cortex, manages to come up with such creative solutions. He wants to find the neural source of our breakthrough. Jung-Beeman's experiments go like this; he gives a subject three different words(such as pine, crab, and sauce) and asks him to think of a single word that could form a compound word or phrase with all three. What's interesting about this type of verbal puzzle is that the answers often arrive in a flash of insight, the familiar "aha" moment. Peopl have no idea how they came up with the necessary word...

 

[charliedeut]

Hi Keannu,

Although I am not a native speaker, and certainly not an expert in neuroscience, "arrive in a flash of insight" suggests that the subject is sort of "looking inside" him/herself for an answer and, at a certain point finds a suitable one to the test proposed. Then comes "the familliar "aha" moment", which you have probably experienced yourself when trying to solve any difficult matter.

There are, however, many members with a better/more appropriate answer than this one, but at least I think it's a good starting point.

Greetings,

Charliedeut

 

[Raymott]

The translation for "arrive in a flash of insight" is "reach a flash of insight", which implies "the answers happened before the sight", but I think it's wrong, I think "arrive in a flash of insight" means "the answers happens in the middle of flash of insight". Doesn't it?

is26
ex)Mark Jung-Beeman, a cognitive psychologist at Northwestern Univerisy, has spent the last fifteen years trying to understand how the brain, led by the prefrontal cortex, manages to come up with such creative solutions. He wants to find the neural source of our breakthrough. Jung-Beeman's experiments go like this; he gives a subject three different words(such as pine, crab, and sauce) and asks him to think of a single word that could form a compound word or phrase with all three. What's interesting about this type of verbal puzzle is that the answers often arrive in a flash of insight, the familiar "aha" moment. Peopl have no idea how they came up with the necessary word...

Yes it does mean something closer to what you wrote. The translation you give is meaningless. Whose translation is it?
How can an answer reach a flash of insight?
I wouldn't say "The answer arrives in the middle of a flash insight" so much as "The answer arriving is the flash of insight" - but I'm not a neuropsychologist either.

 

[keannu]

So you seem to be saying "the answer arrives(comes) as the flash of insight". The translator might be a Korean English professor of a workbook for university entrance exam, none of the authors is a native, which I regret.

 

[BobK]

Yes it does mean something closer to what you wrote. The translation you give is meaningless. Whose translation is it?
How can an answer reach a flash of insight?...

I'm confused by keannu's word 'translation' - From English to English:-?

b

 

[keannu]

If I wrote korean translation results in Korean here, would you be able to understand?

 

[BobK]

No. But my point is that in your question there are two translations - one is yours and one is the published text. I don't see how I can distinguish between the two - is yours somehow more credible (I mean, do you feel that a dictionary must be right, and that that definition must somehow be reconciliable with an actual usage in a translated text?)? (Perhaps one is from a dictionary, and one is a text. :-?)

b

 

[keannu]

I don't get it, what do you mean specifically in this thread? Sometimes dictionaries don't explain everything, but they are normally correct, and sometimes even Korean professors make a mistake in choosing the right word.

"arrive in a flash of insight " => original

"reach a flash of insight" => Korean translation in the explanation part.
"the answers happened before the sight", => further explanation by my interpretation.

"the answers happens in the middle of flash of insight=> My opinion

 

[BobK]

I wouldn't say 'in the middle of'. I think the arrival of the answer is the flash of insight - I mean, 'the flash of insight' wouldn't be about something else. Similarly, in 'They arrived in a shower of handbags and hanging up overcoats, and Christmas greetings and hugs and kisses' the arrival is characterized by all those things (and none of them happens 'in the middle' of the arrival.

b

 

[Tdol]

A flash is too quick to have a beginning, middle and end. It's instantaneous.

 

[Raymott]

I don't get it, what do you mean specifically in this thread? Sometimes dictionaries don't explain everything, but they are normally correct, and sometimes even Korean professors make a mistake in choosing the right word.

"arrive in a flash of insight " => original

"reach a flash of insight" => Korean translation in the explanation part. No, it isn't.
"the answers happened before the sight", => further explanation by my interpretation.

"the answers happens in the middle of flash of insight=> My opinion

One problem is: "reach a flash of insight" is not Korean; it's English.
"Arrive in" is not a translation of "reach". Maybe the Korean translation of "reach" is something which you could then re-translate back into English as "arrive in". But that's an entirely different thing.

 

[keannu]

They translated "arrive in a falsh of insight" to the one as in "arrive at the station, arrive in New York from London in a flight". If I just say another word in English for the translation result, it can cause another confusion, but it's hard to explain as the teachers are not all bilingual. From now on, I'd better explain using examples for the translation result.
Anyway, thanks again for your care.