I like the box very much, thank you.
Every time I see/hear the slogan ‘thinking outside the box’, I am tempted to some act of wanton violence. I have here a link which leads to an allusion to what thinking outside the box might be all about. As it turns out, this concept implies the availability of resources outside the proverbial box. It implies reaching in ‘space’ outside the box, and not in thought. Hence, my dear friend you are forever trapped inside the box. But think of it this way, the box is quite a nice place to be.
Ground realities: by and large, the method of logical reductionism WORKS. This is why it happens to be the cornerstone of Occidental philosophy and science. The method of science known to every young student has everything to do with method and order. To begin with, we draw a ‘free body diagram’. This is a picture of the system in which we try to mark out each and every force acting on the object of interest. Once that is done., we proceed to find their total effect on the body. Epiphanies do not happen, for the most part. Every neophyte knows that method and diligence are what moves the world, not flashes of intuition. In other words, there are no shortcuts. You have to come up the ladder, you have to pay your dues to the Gods and Goddesses of your particular discipline.
This is not a policy favoured by gurus. Guru means ‘teacher’. The ancient Hindu word from which the current American word derives (not English, American) carries with the reverence which India and Indians have long accorded masters. There is another equivalent word, ‘Acharya’. Both words mean a whole lot more than just teacher. They are used for persons who have proved beyond doubt that they are extraordinarily competent in their chosen fields and ability of such magnitude is always deserving of the greatest respect. Hence, for most Indians (except for those sniveling brown nosing MTV loving bastards I see every so often), a teacher is a person to be venerated right after parents. The American meaning of ‘guru’ is an abomination, a perversion. Here, a guru is a charlatan, a trickster who flogs snake oil to the gullible. From time to time,, such guru’s hire smart marketing agents and then wear Armani’s and fly in private jets. These are the worst offenders of them all.
Edward de Bono invented lateral thinking. If you feel that your soul can withstand the shameless self adulation in his ‘authorized website’, please have a look here and here. This person comes up ‘messages’ to his followers. These messages are more self adulation and by and large little advertisements for his new books. If you are an eager middle management type, then you have probably read his books, trying to improve your lot. I seriously doubt that any improvement will come that way. It is probably a better idea to spend more time observing your most efficient competitor and taking notes.
Ok, so what is lateral thinking again? Apparently, it is the ability to stop thinking along the straight and narrow and make a jump over uncertainty and arrive at the right conclusions. De Bono invented it, they say. Now I have a word for the skill just described. It is ‘intuition’. So de Bono invented it, right. Which is much the same as saying that he invented …. Breathing? To be honest, I am not against the idea of lateral thinking. It solves problems! But it is not a substitute for the straight and narrow approach. It is an addition.. it is great when it is available.. but we should (and do) make do without it. The very idea that reading a book of ‘powerful mind techniques’ is a substitute for training and education is absurd. If that were so, then we would have Einstein’s in every household. But that is not so.
Bottom line: don’t fall for marketing nonsense. Think. But don’t let people tell you how to.
Every time I see/hear the slogan ‘thinking outside the box’, I am tempted to some act of wanton violence. I have here a link which leads to an allusion to what thinking outside the box might be all about. As it turns out, this concept implies the availability of resources outside the proverbial box. It implies reaching in ‘space’ outside the box, and not in thought. Hence, my dear friend you are forever trapped inside the box. But think of it this way, the box is quite a nice place to be.
Ground realities: by and large, the method of logical reductionism WORKS. This is why it happens to be the cornerstone of Occidental philosophy and science. The method of science known to every young student has everything to do with method and order. To begin with, we draw a ‘free body diagram’. This is a picture of the system in which we try to mark out each and every force acting on the object of interest. Once that is done., we proceed to find their total effect on the body. Epiphanies do not happen, for the most part. Every neophyte knows that method and diligence are what moves the world, not flashes of intuition. In other words, there are no shortcuts. You have to come up the ladder, you have to pay your dues to the Gods and Goddesses of your particular discipline.
This is not a policy favoured by gurus. Guru means ‘teacher’. The ancient Hindu word from which the current American word derives (not English, American) carries with the reverence which India and Indians have long accorded masters. There is another equivalent word, ‘Acharya’. Both words mean a whole lot more than just teacher. They are used for persons who have proved beyond doubt that they are extraordinarily competent in their chosen fields and ability of such magnitude is always deserving of the greatest respect. Hence, for most Indians (except for those sniveling brown nosing MTV loving bastards I see every so often), a teacher is a person to be venerated right after parents. The American meaning of ‘guru’ is an abomination, a perversion. Here, a guru is a charlatan, a trickster who flogs snake oil to the gullible. From time to time,, such guru’s hire smart marketing agents and then wear Armani’s and fly in private jets. These are the worst offenders of them all.
Edward de Bono invented lateral thinking. If you feel that your soul can withstand the shameless self adulation in his ‘authorized website’, please have a look here and here. This person comes up ‘messages’ to his followers. These messages are more self adulation and by and large little advertisements for his new books. If you are an eager middle management type, then you have probably read his books, trying to improve your lot. I seriously doubt that any improvement will come that way. It is probably a better idea to spend more time observing your most efficient competitor and taking notes.
Ok, so what is lateral thinking again? Apparently, it is the ability to stop thinking along the straight and narrow and make a jump over uncertainty and arrive at the right conclusions. De Bono invented it, they say. Now I have a word for the skill just described. It is ‘intuition’. So de Bono invented it, right. Which is much the same as saying that he invented …. Breathing? To be honest, I am not against the idea of lateral thinking. It solves problems! But it is not a substitute for the straight and narrow approach. It is an addition.. it is great when it is available.. but we should (and do) make do without it. The very idea that reading a book of ‘powerful mind techniques’ is a substitute for training and education is absurd. If that were so, then we would have Einstein’s in every household. But that is not so.
Bottom line: don’t fall for marketing nonsense. Think. But don’t let people tell you how to.
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