Thinking Outside The Box

“Thinking outside the box” refers to “thinking differently or from a new perspective”. From this definition, one may think that there is nothing wrong with it; it is good to have different perspectives, different voices in the conversation; and I totally agree with it. However, this advice has unfortunately become an end in itself. It is now just a signal of cleverness and coolness. I think this is a very unfortunate trend.

To give an example, the context in which “thinking outside the box” originates is as follows:

  • One person approaches a problem differently, thinks about it from a different angle
  • Reaches a point different from the norm or the status quo; this changes the paradigm.
  • Now, she is a hero, and everyone admires her.
Unfortunately, the above lifecycle got replaced by the following:
  • I want to be cool.
  • Cool people do things differently, behave differently; they are peculiar.
  • To be cool, I should be different.
I think, at least subconsciously, this is the current situation. People now equate being different, being marginal with cleverness, coolness.

This is a very unfortunate trend because it eases the propagation of marginal ideas in society, it creates fertile ground for conspiracy theories. I think part of the reason for the rise of the alt-right is this trend. These ideologies give their holders the sense that they are fighting the elites, status quo, etc. They see themselves as heroes who can say the unsayable and do the unthinkable. They like to flirt with taboos just for the sake of doing it. In a sense, they want to be lynched by the community, because society is not ready for their views and their value would be seen by future generations.

This writing doesn’t mean we should all be conservatives or do whatever most people do every time. The point is that if you already know where you are going when you start “thinking outside the box”, you are not “thinking outside the box”.

Goodhart’s Law states that “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” I think nowadays being peculiar has become a target, and it is no longer a good measure.