In life,once on a path,we tend to follow it,for better or worse.What's sad is that even if it's the latter,we often accept it anyway because we are so accustomed to the way things are that we don't even recognize that they could be different.This is a phenomenon psychologists call functional fixedness.
This classic experiment will give you an idea of how it works and a sense of whether you may have fallen into the same trap:People are given a box of tacks and some matches and asked to find a way to attach acandle to a wall so that it burns properly. Typically,the subjects try tacking the candle tothe wall or lighting it to affix it with melted wax.The psychologists had,of course, arranged it so that neither of these obvious approaches would work.The tacks are too short,and the paraffin doesn't bind to the wall.So how can you accomplish the task? The successful technique is to use the tack box as a candle-holder.You empty it,tack it to the wall,and stand the candle inside it.To think of that,you have to look beyond the box's usual role as a receptacle just for tacks and re-imagine it serving an entirely new purpose.That is difficult because we all suffer to one degree or another from functional fixedness.The inability to think in new ways affects people in every comer of society.
The political theorist Hannah Arendt coined the phrase frozen thoughts to describe deeply held ideas that we no longer question but should. InArendt's eyes,the complacent reliance on such accepted "truths"also made people blind to ideas that didn't fit their worldview,even when there was ample evidence for them. Frozen thinking has nothing to do with intelligence,she said."It can be found in highly intelligent people."Arendt was particularly interested in the origins of evil, and she considered critical thinking to be a moral imperative-in its absence,a society could go the way of Nazi Germany.
Fortunately,psychologists have found that anyone can unfreeze his or her thinking.One of the most effective ways is to introduce a little discord to one's intellectual interactions.What this all means is that, as difficult as it can sometimes be,talking to people who disagree with you is good for your brain.So if you hate conspiracy theories and run into someone who believes that wefaked the moon landing,don't walk away.Have tea with him or her.It can broaden your thinking in countless ways.
What can we do to unfreeze our thinking?