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Thinking Out Of The Box

You have heard the expression, "thinking out of the box" or something similar, but have you ever thought about what the "box" is that you are supposed to get out of? I like to explain it with a short metaphorical story. By now you know how much I like metaphors.

Jack In The Box

Jack lived in a wooden box that was a hundred meters on each side. Pictures and written descriptions of the outside world covered all the walls, giving him a good idea of what was out there. He thought he understood the world pretty well, and in fact, the information in the box was fairly comprehensive and accurate. He was even able to dream up new ideas, then write them down and pass them out through a small window. People sometimes found them very useful.

Other times, though, the people simply shook their heads and said, "What made you think this would work?" That disturbed him. Also, when he communicated by phone with those who lived in other boxes, they seemed to have a different concept of the outside world than he had. He wondered what pictures and descriptions were painted on the walls of their boxes. Obviously there must be some inaccuracies. He had a lot of arguments with other box-dwellers, because he was sure that his box was the best.

One day he looked out the window and a dragonfly flew past. Four wings! He must be seeing things. For some reason there was nothing about dragonflies painted on the walls of his box. He ran around searching and searching, but everything that could fly obviously had two wings. Maybe he imagined it.

Then it occurred to him that perhaps there was more to the world than what was written and painted on the walls of his box. There was only one way to find out. He had to go out there and see...

Getting Out Of The Box

The "box" consists of our habitual and limiting ways of thinking and solving problems, and the assumptions that we have made (perhaps mostly unconsciously). We refer to the descriptions and pictures on the walls of this box, but of course the world is larger and more complex than any description can capture. If you stay inside this box, your thinking is limited, so how do you get out of it? Here are a number of ways.

Silly Questions

Asking many questions was the topic of a previous lesson, but that was more about problem solving. The idea here is to just relax (perhaps lay in the park or on the couch), look around at things and think of seemingly silly questions. Then you work with these to see where they might lead and also what serious questions they suggest.

For example, laying on the couch the other day, I wondered if dogs see themselves in their dreams. Do they always see through their own eyes, or can they observe themselves as an outsider, as we sometimes do in our dreams? This "silly" question suggests interesting ideas.

If dogs don't see themselves in dreams, why not? Why can I? Maybe having a name and an idea about my "self" makes this "observer" perspective possible? Is it the basis for consciousness and self awareness? A page on consciousness resulted from this question, and on the website www.Metaphorology.com I also put up a new page called I Am A Metaphor.

As I write this, it also occurs to me that giving a dog a name might make it more able to think about itself. Perhaps we'll someday find that while wolfs can't dream as an observer, dogs can. Fido hears his name called out in his dream and sees his imagined "self" running to his master. This also makes me wonder if animals which have more language ability, like primates and dolphins, could be taught to use language in a way that creates a higher form of consciousness, or at least more self-awareness.

This technique isn't just for radical philosophy or psychology, of course. The "silly" question, "What if meals cooked themselves?" suggests an invention that dispenses hot meals at home, like hot-coffee vending machines do in public. It could have breakfast ready automatically at any time you set it for.

Challenging Assumptions

I recently found a true story that shows how powerfully our assumptions affect our thinking. In their book "Freakonomics," Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner report on a study of ten day-care centers in Haifa, Israel. Economists wanted to address the problem of parents who came late to pick up their children, and figured that some "incentive" plan would work.

They instituted a fine of $3 for being late, based on the assumption that this would encourage parents to be on time more often. The result? Parents were late more than twice as often as before. Apparently parents who previously felt some guilt for being late, now felt that it was okay, since they paid for the privilege, and they obviously felt it was worth $3.

Now, there are two ways to start thinking out of the box in this case. One way would have been to challenge the assumptions at the start, which may have lead to the thought that "incentives" are more than just money, but include things like avoidance of guilt. Of course, ultimately, the best way to get out of the box may be to do such research and have our assumptions proven wrong.

Look At The Purposes

There are often multiple purposes for things, and even hidden purposes. To get your thinking out of the box, challenge existing purposes and consider new ones. To demonstrate, let's start with the question, "What's the purpose of prisons?" You might think they're meant to punish criminals. Others might say "to reform criminal minds." Some may suggest multiple purposes, including satisfying a desire for revenge. Here are five ways to think differently about these.

1. Ask if the stated purpose is being served. Do they punish, or are they too easy on criminals? Do they reform criminal minds, or do they actually train prisoners in criminal thought? Do they satisfy a desire for revenge? The answer to each of these implicit challenges can lead to new ideas. If they don't reform criminals, for example, what would?

2. Ask if the purpose is appropriate. Is a desire for revenge a valid purpose? Is reforming the criminal mind? Is punishment? If the answer is no to any these, what new ideas does this suggest? If we have no business (or no success) changing minds, what about changing behavior instead, or putting all released criminals under supervision for a while?

3. Look for more fundamental purposes. For example, the tools of the system (punishment, removal from society, reformation) are supposed to make us safer. Do they do that and what better ways we can accomplish this more important and fundamental purpose? What if we had the psychological and medical tools to make criminals very unlikely to re-offend? Could we use these and dispense with any punishment, if this made us safer? Or are we more concerned with punishing and getting revenge than with safety? This leads to the next challenge...

4. Look for hidden purposes. Perhaps one less-than-conscious purpose of prisons is to remove the issue from our thoughts. Public punishment in the past meant we were confronted directly with the reality of criminals and the questions of how we should deal with them. It certainly is more pleasant to have it all out of sight. If this a hidden purpose, does it get in the way of more important purposes?

5. Look for new purposes. For example, with its total control of meals, a prison might be a good place to do dietary research. Researchers might convincingly demonstrate that a certain diet can prevent diabetes. What other new purposes could prisons be used for? That can be your mental exercise for today.

By the way, as I reviewed this lesson, the "silly questions" technique made me think, "What if we just let all the criminals go free?" At first glance, this seems worse than silly, but as I thought about it, it occurred to me that we have hundreds of thousands of "criminals" in prisons for "crimes" that had no victim (smoking marijuana, prostitution, etc.), and their incarceration costs us over $30,000 per year each.

These are not necessarily dangerous people. If we released them all with supervision and GPS monitoring, they could be working and paying taxes - if not, they return to the prison. Since they'll all be out someday anyhow, allowing them to develop or maintain the habit of working might make us all safer in the long run - and save us a fortune!

Thinking Out Of the Box - An Exercise

If you want to practice thinking out of the box, find an area where your thinking is fairly settled. This could be your thoughts about how money is made, how people should relate to one another, what it means to be a patriot, or even how your household should be run. The idea is to start in an area where you already have clear ideas and opinions.

Then simply use one of the techniques above to think about the topic in new ways. Use the one that is most appealing to you and you'll probably have better results. Work with your thoughts until you have several new ideas, of which at least one seems insightful or useful.

Until next time,

Steve

www.RadicalNewThoughts.com