boundaries

Defend your limits and....they are yours.


Basically I am the one who determines what I can do and what I cannot do. These boundaries or blocks are not outside but within me. I think they are there and very often accept them without investigating why I think so. I have created them or they are part of my raising and education. They are a structural part of my mental build-up. They are like spectacles through which I view the world (my world!). It may be an optimistic view, a pessimistic view, a stereotype, irritation, anger, jealousy, lack of interest or challenge, fast judgment, overmotivation etc. In fact there are more than any optician has in stock.
These spectacles are the result of my upbringing and previous experiences, and often work like self-fulfilling prophecies. If I am unaware of them they make me act or what is more react in a preconceived manner, without full attention for the facts. They are very much what Thomas Kuhn called paradigms: models or patterns which we put on reality. According to Kuhn scientists are sometimes unable to see certgain facts right in front of their eyes. The art of looking means look with an open mind, without emotions, whatever there is, is neither good nor bad it just is. Anything deviating from the expected is often hardly seen, but filled in according to the expectations. It is hard to disappoint a fan of a particular pop group, any negative points are easily corrected. Similarly we tend to correct things we look at but are not quite what we expect:
Pieces of the line between inner directed arrows seem longer than between outward directed arrows. Still both lines have the same length.We often impose restrictions on a certain situations which are not there. And it may be difficult to go outside (assumed) limits:E.g. draw no more than four straight lines (without lifting the pen from the paper) which will cross through all nine dots.. This assignment is difficult to solve if the imaginary boundary enclosing the nine dots is not exceeded. Many of us will not be able to exceed this boundary which only exists in their minds. Please check the assignment once more and state what is not allowed and next what is allowed. And the solution has only three lines!
Of course, as it said no more than four lines. It is also possible with four lines, but the idea was to show the invisible boundaries we just impose ourselves. With a thick marker is could be done with one line!

Another boundary might be “ I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part
of the way the world works.
2. Anything that is invented between when you're fifteen and thirty is new and exciting and
revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty five is against the natural order of things.”
Douglas Adams,: The Salmon of Doubt, - Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time)

[back to start Creativity Explored in Gulliver’s Footsteps] [Go to Lilliput start] Go to Brobdingnag start page] [Go to Laputa start] [Go to Houyhhnhm start] [Go to Creative Self start]

Another example is given to show how we tend to order things in a preconceived manner. The above lines will by most of us be ordered in pairs.By just adding small lines they will be ordered as the ends of rectangles. The difficulty will be to let go of our first impression and work with the new facts.

Creativity > breaking down the old and rearranging it


Continuing with the old implies continuous change (see crisis). Edward de Bono calls this vertical thinking; it means working out ideas e.g. the old 73 rpm record and the later versions. However, breaking down the old concept of recording gave us the open reel tape recorder. When this was worked out the compact cassette was invented. The compact disc was an entirely new concept. This De Bono called lateral thinking. It is like drilling oil, when the old well requires more and more investment it may be worthwhile to try somewhere else again. Still many people seem to find it more convenient to continue digging at the same place instead of starting somewhere anew. Vertical thinking is for working out ideas and lateral thinking for finding new ideas.Other boundaries are the result of saturation. Many objects in our direct environment are no longer seen. You may try this out by drawing the dashboard of your car, your cassette deck (without looking at it), a pair of scissors or any object you use repeatedly, but whose visual details are unimportant to you.
Another way to realize our preconceived way of looking is to copy a tree by just looking at the space between the branches, so you will draw the outline of the tree by blackening the environment . The tricky part of saturation is that the facts are there, but we are unable to recall them when we want. In zen drawing (sumi e) the artist draws an object from memory, this simple exercise means that we learn to better look at the objects (and people) in our environment. Practicing visualization (see also mind mapping) is a simple and effective method of extending your boundaries and filling the space that is available to you.
Creativity >> making the most of what is
[back to English Index] [Back to start page] [Back to first entry of this site]