Think out of the box...think lateral...
What wekipedia says...
Lateral thinking is a term invented by Edward de Bono. He defines it as a technique of problem solving by approaching problems indirectly at diverse angles instead of concentrating on one approach at length.Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. Techniques that apply lateral thinking to problems are characterized by the shifting of thinking patterns away from entrenched or predictable thinking to new or unexpected ideas.
Here are a few examples I collected from the net to illustrate solutions using Lateral Thinking...
A few scenarios are given and you have to find explanations for them...
1)A man and his wife raced through the streets. They stopped, and the husband got out of the car. When he came back, his wife was dead, and there was a stranger in the car.
2)A man is lying dead, face down in the desert. He's wearing a backpack.
3)The music stops, and a woman dies.
4)A man is found hanging in an otherwise empty locked room with a puddle of water under his feet.
5)A man is lying dead in a room. There is a large pile of gold and jewels on the floor, a chandelier attached to the ceiling, and a large open window.
the explanations...
1)The wife was about to have a baby. They drove to the hospital. The husband left to get a wheelchair, but the baby was born in the meantime, and the wife didn't survive the birth.
2)He jumped out of an airplane, but his parachute failed to open.
3)The woman is a tightrope walker in a circus. Her act consists of walking the rope blindfolded, accompanied by music, without a net. The conductor is supposed to stop the music when she reaches the end of the rope, signaling that it's safe to step off onto the platform. That day, the usual conductor was ill. The substitute stopped the music early.
4)He stood on a block of ice to hang himself.
5)The room is the ballroom of an ocean liner which sank some time ago. The man ran out of air while diving in the wreck.
Lateral thinking is a term invented by Edward de Bono. He defines it as a technique of problem solving by approaching problems indirectly at diverse angles instead of concentrating on one approach at length.Lateral thinking is about reasoning that is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. Techniques that apply lateral thinking to problems are characterized by the shifting of thinking patterns away from entrenched or predictable thinking to new or unexpected ideas.
Lateral thinking defined by Edward de Bono...
"Lateral Thinking is for changing concepts and perceptions"
With logic you start out with certain ingredients just as in playing chess you start out with given pieces. But what are those pieces? In most real life situations the pieces are not given, we just assume they are there. We assume certain perceptions, certain concepts and certain boundaries. Lateral thinking is concerned not with playing with the existing pieces but with seeking to change those very pieces. Lateral thinking is concerned with the perception part of thinking. This is where we organize the external world into the pieces we can then 'process'.
Here are a few examples I collected from the net to illustrate solutions using Lateral Thinking...
A few scenarios are given and you have to find explanations for them...
1)A man and his wife raced through the streets. They stopped, and the husband got out of the car. When he came back, his wife was dead, and there was a stranger in the car.
2)A man is lying dead, face down in the desert. He's wearing a backpack.
3)The music stops, and a woman dies.
4)A man is found hanging in an otherwise empty locked room with a puddle of water under his feet.
5)A man is lying dead in a room. There is a large pile of gold and jewels on the floor, a chandelier attached to the ceiling, and a large open window.
the explanations...
1)The wife was about to have a baby. They drove to the hospital. The husband left to get a wheelchair, but the baby was born in the meantime, and the wife didn't survive the birth.
2)He jumped out of an airplane, but his parachute failed to open.
3)The woman is a tightrope walker in a circus. Her act consists of walking the rope blindfolded, accompanied by music, without a net. The conductor is supposed to stop the music when she reaches the end of the rope, signaling that it's safe to step off onto the platform. That day, the usual conductor was ill. The substitute stopped the music early.
4)He stood on a block of ice to hang himself.
5)The room is the ballroom of an ocean liner which sank some time ago. The man ran out of air while diving in the wreck.
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