“Think outside of the box” is a cliche phrase used to refer to looking at a problem from a fresh perspective. It has a strong message, but why is it that so many people become obsessed with it? Almost everyone has the “think outside of the box” advice ready to fire at someone else - and by doing so they’re not really thinking outside of the box themselves.Be aware that this is not your usual article about the benefits of thinking outside of the box.
Origins of “the box”
The origins of this catchphrase can be found in the nine dots puzzle. This puzzle first appeared in Sam Loyd’s 1914 Cyclopedia of Puzzles and then in the 1951 compilation The Puzzle-Mine: Puzzles Collected from the Works of the Late Henry Ernest Dudeney.
Lexicographer David Barnhart reports that he first encountered the “think outside of the box” phrase in 1975.
(the nine dots puzzle)
What’s the nine dots puzzle? It is a puzzle game where you are presented with a square made of 9 dots (picture above) and you have to connect all the dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines without lifting the pencil from the paper. To solve the puzzle, you have to literally think outside of the box.
The box
Of course that “thinking outside of the box” is used mostly in a metaphorical sense, but what if this metaphorical box doesn’t exist at all? After all, “there is no spoon.”
There is no spoon
Here I am, with yet another connection to The Matrix movie. Let’s take a look at the “there is no spoon” scene.
After his initial training, Neo, the main character of the movie, is taken to the “Oracle,” an old lady who seems to be able to see the future. While he was waiting to see her we have an important scene. Neo is left in a room with a group of children who appear to be adepts of doing impossible things. One is also reading a book in Chinese. One young boy, who is dressed and groomed like Mahâtmâ Gandhi, is calmly sitting in a Lotus position making spoons bend through telekinesis. The extraordinary thing about the world of The Matrix is that we have no difficulty understanding how this is possible. Paranormal abilities are no longer miraculous when we know that they are just computer simulations. But Neo, actually living in this world, of course, has a little more difficulty grasping exactly how to do it. So the boy explains with perhaps the most important line of the movie, “There is no spoon.” Now, this is a great philosophical phrase.
The idea originates in Buddhism. The spoon is “empty,” it has “no self nature,” no essence or enduring reality. The spoon exists only relative to everything else.
There is no box
Just like there is no spoon to bend, there is no box to think outside of. The box which creates boundaries for our mind is a mere illusion that we ourselves have built and maintained. It is a sum of wrong concepts about reality picked up from the people with which we came in contact. The box building process starts early with school, and some people live within the boundaries of this imaginary fake box their entire lives.
Like the spoon, “the box” exists only relative to everything else. It doesn’t exist as such.
Copyblogger’s Brian Clark writes in one of his articles:
“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.”
One of the many real concepts that most people agree with is that these boxes that we have to think outside of are real… If you believe in that philosophy you’re viewed as normal. But the price to pay for believing in this mis-belief is enormous. It can cost you your dreams, your happiness, your creativity and your happy life.
In the end, what matters is not to think outside of an illusional box, but to have the courage to be different than the rest of the crowd - if you are different.
Don’t think outside of the box, thinking will suffice.
Second-hand concepts create more victims than second-hand smoke.
Thanks for a great post!
Makes me think of a book I saw that an associate recently picked up about the imagineers. The back is telling: How many imagineers does it take to change a light bulb? Who says there has to be a light bulb?
The more creative you can get, the better off you are in general. This is especially true when it comes to how we live our lives.
If you’re having some difficulty getting that boost into uncharted mental waters, try going to wikipedia and clicking on the “random article” link for a while. I guarantee you’ll find something that hadn’t occurred to you.
In order to move in new directions, you need to embrace new patterns of thought and new inputs. So, try something new!
As usual, a great comment from John, thank you!
The Wikipedia tip is very useful but comes with a warning: creates addiction. Once one starts exploring new mental territories, one gets hooked on the idea. However, this kind of addiction can be considered as useful, its only downside being that it can take up large amounts of time (and with large amounts of time dedicated to it, information overload can occur).
Thanks again for the comment and its suggestions, John!
how do you solve the puzzle? and you still haven’t answered how often you lie!
I can’t spoil the puzzle. I’m “afraid” you’ll have to solve it yourself.
About the second part of your comment, I will do that really soon.
You were doing quite well up until the secondhand smoke bit.
Noone’s ever died from secondhand smoke. If you think there have been casualties, try naming 5.
Secondhand smoke is a myth. Try thinging outside the box!
A small correction: the nine-dots puzzle is solved with *three* connected, straight lines.
Thanks for the comments guys.
@John Ferguson: Heh, you’re trying to turn what I wrote against me, but it won’t work.
A victim is “an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance.” No one has to be dead. 
@Michael: There are many solutions for the nine-dots puzzle, but the original puzzle was asking for a solution with 4 lines.
I have found (on my own) only one other variation: one which implies drawing five lines.
Three …I don’t know how, but it might just be possible.
@Titus-Armand: I stand corrected. You are right, the puzzle did appear originally with the instruction to draw four lines. But trust me, there is a three-line solution.
I’ve finally discovered the three-lines solution, Michael! Thanks for motivating me to try harder.
However, as the Wikipedia article states, the three-line solution is possible only if the dots have an area and are not infinitesimally small points - the “Christopher Columbus’s egg puzzle” variation.
But anyway, the instructions (and the dots from the post picture) leave enough space for one to create his own set of rules.
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I used this puzzle in a lesson for my children in children`s church.Is there any other puzzles that you have that are similar to this one?I`m in search of things to keep my kids brains simulated.
Hello Norma,
Yes, there are many other brain teasers that will stimulate your kids brains - although not exactly similar to this one. You can find plenty of them by googling for “brain teasers.” I can’t post any links as there are too many pages.
Hope that helps.