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Redefining Reality

If you want radically new ideas, you have to be willing to encourage nonconformity in your thinking. How do you do this? By redefining reality. Here is one way.

There Is No Such Thing As...

We assume that the accepted definitions and understandings of concepts are the "best," because they have been around so long. They have passed the "test of time" we say. However, this is not the only test. We need to look at things with whole new definitions if we want whole new understandings. We have to effectively get in the habit of redefining reality.

One way to do that is to complete the sentence, "There is no such thing as _____ ." Insert any and all words and expressions. Then find a way to explain the statement, to see what insights you have.

For example; There is no such thing as employees. How do we make sense of this idea? By looking at what others call "employees," and finding another way to label and define them. My personal favorite alternative is "businessmen in the business of selling their labor." If you've been to my other websites, you may recognize this metaphor, because I have used it before.

I used it not just in writing or speculation, though, but in life. When I did have jobs, I always tried to think as a businessman. I marketed myself, I looked for "customers" (employers) who would pay better, and I tried to provide a service that was worth more so I could charge more.

But the most profound impact this perspective had was on my attitude. Though I hate jobs generally, I never felt a sense of being "trapped" in a job. I didn't feel the bitterness that others felt, and I certainly never felt like a "slave," a metaphor which is used too easily - and which cannot be good for mental health. I was free to seek out other customers, and often did. I could quit and start another business. I owed nothing to my customer and he owed nothing to me, except what we agreed on, and we were each free to change our minds when the arrangement didn't work out.

The experience clearly showed me the power of a better way of looking at things. Let's look at some other examples. To demonstrate the power of this little technique, I am going to simply pick out two objects around me at random, and then pick a word from the notes on my desk.

I just looked at my lamp and wrote, "There is no such thing as a light." As silly as this seems, in just a few seconds I made sense of it by saying, "There are only devices that enable us to know our surroundings." Then it took but ten seconds more to imagine a device that is pointed at things by a blind person, and audibly tells him what is there. Point at the desk, and he hears "desk." I recently read about cameras and software that have done this in a lab, so a consumer device shouldn't be far behind.

There is no such thing as a wall. Hmm... There are only things that hold up roofs and keep in heat. The first thing that comes to mind is that these are two different functions. An obvious avenue to explore then is whether two different things could perform these functions. Steel poles spaced far apart hold up the roof, while a retractable curtain surrounds the house?

There is no such thing as freedom. I feel bad even saying this, because I believe so much in the concept, but perhaps this is exactly why it should be played with in this way, to open my otherwise limited thinking to other perspectives. And, of course, it easy to see that "freedom" in some total sense does not exist in life. What exists is "a person's personal range and quantity of options."

Looked at this way, we might consider how many real options (and of which type) people have under various systems, apart from any "political" guarantees they have. Since money provides choices as much as anything else, the system that provides the most opportunity to make money may offer the widest range of personal options. Taken from a more personal perspective, it suggests arranging ones own life in ways that provide the most options, rather than worrying about changing the political climate.

This exercise in "redefining reality" is really just another way of using existing definitions in new ways, or of placing new labels on things. As such, you could skip the sentence-completion exercise and get the same result, at least in theory. But by it's shocking nature, saying "There is no such things as _____" wakes up your mind to new possibilities you might otherwise miss.

Refining The Redefining

There are several subtle variations to this process. First, you might simply see what is there and call it something else that better explains it, as I did in the "employee" example. This kind of redefining most often requires a new metaphor, and the word or words ("service business" instead of "job," for example) used could theoretically replace the old ones.

You can also just take another look at what a word is commonly thought to represent. This is what I did with the word "freedom" above. In this case, we would almost always accept the validity of the word, and continue to use it, but with a new understanding.

A third way is to ask whether the concept points to something real at all. Consider "There is no such thing as culture." One definition of culture is, "The attitudes, behavior and tastes that are characteristic of a particular social group." You might reasonably question whether we can really make claims about "the attitudes, behavior and tastes" of a social group," considering that there are only individuals. This approach questions not just the definition, but the validity of the concept itself.

Redefining Reality - An Exercise

Here are some statements that follow the formula outlined above. Pretend for a moment that they are true, and see what new insights, ideas or inventions come to mind.

There is no such thing as self improvement.
There is no such thing as a city.
There is no such thing as creationist science.
There is no such thing as justice.
There is no such thing as retirement.
There is no such thing as a bicycle.
There is no such thing as ownership.

Until next time,

Steve

www.RadicalNewThoughts.com