Nine dots 4 lines1/30/2024 Researchers went on to show that the success rate could be improved by giving subjects prior training in solving simpler line-and-dot problems, and also by giving them “detailed strategy instructions” about how to solve the problem: And even the ones who did solve the problem took a long time to do so, and used trial and error, making many different drawings, rather than any special form of ‘creative thinking’. In fact, only 20-25% of subjects were able to solve the problem, even though all of them allowed themselves to draw outside the box. Contrary to the ‘outside the box’ school of thought, this did not make problem easy to solve. In Creativity – Beyond the Myth of Genius Robert Weisberg describes two experiments in which people were told that the only way to solve the problem was to draw lines outside the square. They are usually so astonished to discover that they are allowed to draw outside the box that they readily accept this explanation.Ī few researchers have been sceptical and curious enough to test this assumption. But most of the time people are not given the chance to find out – they are simply given the solution and told that the problem was their limited thinking. that all we have to do is tell people they can go outside the box and they will find it easy to solve the problem. The trouble with the usual way of presenting the nine-dot problem is that it contains (ahem) an unexamined assumption. In case you think I’m having a go at creativity trainers I’ll confess that a few years ago, on a couple of occasions, I was that trainer. Most of us are very poor at doing this and have to work hard at it – unlike creative geniuses to whom this kind of thinking comes naturally. It takes a real effort to challenge the assumptions and think outside the box. This is true in so many areas of life – our education, past experience and habitual thinking patterns keep us trapped in limiting assumptions. Once we start to think ‘outside the box’ we open up many more possibilities and it becomes easy to solve the problem. The trainer then trots out the conventional explanation of the puzzle: we can’t solve the problem as long as we are thinking ‘inside the box’ created by our assumptions. But most creativity trainers don’t bother with the second stage – they simply reveal the solution to cast of astonishment and protest from the audience: “that’s not fair! You didn’t tell us we could go outside the box!” To which the trainer typically responds “Aha! But I didn’t tell you you couldn’t go outside the box!”. And nearly everybody (including me, when I first saw it) completely fails to solve the problem. without mentioning the fact that you allow to go outside the box. The usual way of presenting this problem is for a creativity trainer to only give the first set of instructions – i.e. What did you make of that? Could you solve the problem the first time? Did it make any difference when I said you could go outside the box? The Conventional Explanation OK if you’ve either solved it or had enough, click here to see two of the usual solutions. Again, don’t read any further until you’ve either solved it or given up. So have another go at solving the problem, allowing yourself to draw outside the box. But if you look at the instructions, there is no requirement to do this. If you’re like most people, you will have tried to solve the problem by keeping your lines inside the ‘box’ created by the dots. If you’re not there yet, here’s a clue to help you. How did you get on? If you managed to solve it, give yourself a pat on the back and read on. Don’t read any further until you’ve tried to solve the problem. you must not lift your pen from the paper once you start drawing. The straight lines must be continuous – i.e. To solve the problem, you need to join all nine dots by drawing no more than four straight lines. Get a pen and some paper and copy the nine dots arranged in a square below. If you haven’t seen this problem before, try to solve it before scrolling down and reading the rest – you’ll get a lot more out of this article. The phrase is generally held to have originated with the classic ‘nine-dot’ creativity puzzle. You need to break out of conventional thinking and take off the blinkers formed by past experience.īut is that really how creativity happens? And will learning to ‘think outside the box’ help you become more creative? The basic idea is that to be creative you need to challenge your own assumptions and look at things from a fresh angle. ‘Think outside the box’ is one of the biggest creativity cliches.
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