People like to call this “thinking outside of the box,” which is the
wrong way to look at it. Just like Neo needed to understand that “there is no spoon” in the film The Matrix, you need to realize “there is no box” to step outside of.
You create your own imaginary boxes
simply by living life and accepting certain things as “real” when they
are just as illusory as the beliefs of a paranoid delusional. The
difference is, enough people agree that certain man-made concepts are
“real,” so you’re viewed as “normal.” This is good for society overall,
but it’s that sort of unquestioning consensus that inhibits your
natural creative abilities.
I had an imaginary box and told people to "think outside of the box." Then recently I started telling everyone to throw away the box. I like what he states as that we created these imaginary boxes. As teachers we only know what we were taught. Were we taught...
Flickr Image by Giuseppe Bognanni
that there is one right answer?
to think logically?
to follow rules?
be practical?
that play is not work?
to only do your job?
be a "serious" person?
to avoid ambiguity?
that being wrong is bad?
that you are not creative?
I'd like to add a few more mental blocks I see teachers have: