How to get into Second Life without really trying

Selby Evans is Thinkerer Melville in Second Life

This phrase comes from a common trick in psychological research.  You lay out a box-shaped array of dots.  You ask college students to connect the dots with a fixed number of straight lines.  The college students will usually assume that the lines have to fit inside the box.  The solution requires running the lines outside the box.

This is just a standard demonstration that psychologists use to show that psychologists are smarter than college sophomores.  But there is a way to get more than smug psychologists out of it.

To think outside the box, first find the box.

In the real world, that means:  Figure out the assumptions people are making about the problem.  Maybe even list the assumptions.  Then ask yourself which assumption you are going to break to get outside of the box.  You may want to call on the Uns for help on this one.  The Uns are naturally unruly.  Undisciplined.  Unconventional.  Unboxed.

If you ask yourself about the assumptions and are not satisfied with the answer, ask somebody else for a list of the absolutely unbreakable rules that apply to your objective.  Everybody can call up their Shudoffs, who manage the unbreakable rules.  So you can always get neatly boxed advice about what you should do. 

Some people will also call up their Uns to challenge the idea of absolutely unbreakable rules.    Those are the people who can help you think outside of the box.

Head Staff

Your Un

Know the Uns

Strengths to use for outboxing:
Ambiguity, Can Tolerate
Creative
Curious
Imagery, Good
Imaginative
Independent