"We need to think outside the box."
We've all heard it. When it comes down to it, what IS this box anyhow?
The Nine Dots Puzzle goes like this: using four straight lines, connect nine dots arranged in a square (the "box") without lifting your pen. (Spoiler below, so solve it before you look to the next paragraph.)
The solution requires you to extend three of the lines outside of the square in order to acheive the goal. It has been interpreted traditionally as requiring the puzzler to "think outside the box." We have extended this to be an analogy of creative thinking - don't let the perceived boundaries inhibit you in your solution of a given problem.
The thing that is bothersome about this is not that people want to think outside the box but that they discount anything INSIDE the box. They are so frantically struggling to think OUTSIDE to come up with a solution that they neglect to consider what is before their very eyes. Even Dorothy figured out that things are usually found in her own backyard.
The challenge is to practice enough "throw away the box" thinking so that when a problem arises, we have the skills to think. Just think. Period. Not think inside the box. Not think outside the box. But just think.
Welcome to the fun!
1 comment:
Love your blog. Pretty entertaining in a very intellectual way. I'm putting it in my favorites to take a glance every once in a while. BTW after reading the "outside the box" spoiler it took me about 10 seconds to solve it. Thinking outside the box is one of those universal phrases that could be used in so many different contexts. Good luck!
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