METAPHOR

If you think you are thinking “outside the box,” should you be doing your thinking outside of a box?

If you are solving a problem by thinking about it “on the one hand” and then “on the other hand,” should you use both hands to try to solve the problem?

If you consider a particular metaphor (like those above) before jumping into think-mode or creative-mode, will you think better, more creatively?

Research says yes.

Psychologists studying “embodied cognition” have affirmed that “when people literally — that is, physically — embody these metaphors, they generate more creative ideas for solving problems.”

102 undergraduates at New York University are asked to complete a task that measures innovative thinking. Some of the students sit inside a box - made of plastic pipe and cardboard - and complete the task. The others sit outside of the box or next to it. Researchers evaluating the responses to the task find that the individuals actually sitting outside the pipe and cardboard box came up with over 20 percent more creative solutions than the students seated inside the box.

A rectangular path is delineated by duct tape on a floor.  Students are shown pictures of objects made of Lego blocks, and asked to think of original ways to use the objects while either walking along the duct tape path, or walking freely about the floor.

Students who walked freely – outside the duct tape box — came up with over 25 percent more original ideas.

40 undergraduates from the University of Michigan are asked to consider a problem on one hand, and then on the other. Half of the students are asked to lift and hold one hand outstretched while they consider the problem. The others are allowed to switch from hand to hand.

The students who switched hands (thinking about the problem on “one hand” and then “on the other”) had a nearly 50 percent increase in the number of ideas generated.

Apparently metaphors - “catchphrases” - if you will, can affect the way we think.

Doctoral candidate Suntae Kim, and associate professor Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks at the University of Michigan, together with Evan Polman, a visiting assistant professor at New York University have demonstrated that bodily experiences can help create new knowledge, undermining  “the strict separation between mind and body — another box that has confined our thinking for a long time.” 

Mind and body are linked, and bodily experiences clearly influence how individuals construct their social reality.

Consider this: Studies show that an individual holding a warm cup of coffee tends to perceive a stranger as having a “warmer” personality. Likewise one will see things as more serious and important — more “weighty.” If he is holding something heavy.

And though researchers are just beginning to understand how catchphrases shape people’s thinking, they believe “it’s possible to begin prescribing some novel suggestions to enhance creativity.”

Hmmm.  If they can enhance creativity, perhaps novel suggestions can also end addictions.

Like my addiction to sweets. And politics.

Metaphor over Mind.

Kindly do me a favor!

Suggest that America is a Candy Store; stocked with all sorts of remarkable creations.

War Heads.
Starbursts.  
Snicker-ers.
Gummy Worms.
Sour Patch Kids.
Fireballs.
Jawbreakers.
Lifesavers.
Slo Pokes.
Cracker Jacks.
Smoothies.
Goobers.  
Sugar Daddies.
Hot Tamales.
Nerds.
AirHeads.  
Smarties.

Truffles are showcased.

Chocolates are divided by label and price.

Penny candies are stashed in bin after bin, lining the walls.

Nuts, ever copious, occupy a whole corner of the store.

Sweet. Sour. Chewy. Gross.

Some treats are delicious. Others make you sick.  

At best: a collection of bright, shiny beans in a zillion flavors and colors.

At worst: a collection of stale, hard and crack-a-tooth-destructive has-beens.

Like Politicians and their discourse, 2012.

Epiphany.

This kid has zero desire to be in a candy store.

Candy cravings cured!  Passion for politics purged!

Metaphor over mind.


QUING Hereby Decrees: Attempting to lock- up votes by devaluing the education of our youth is henceforth punishable by good old-fashioned tarring and feathering.  In the public square. All are invited to attend.