Thinking out of the box.

There is no such thing as thinking out of the box.  People like to convince themselves that they step out of their comfort zone and leave their little box that protects them from the rest of the world and get inspiration from the 'fresh air'.

Utter nonsense.  What we mostly do is to poke around in the dusty corners, look at the usual stuff with a more critical eye, and, if it is really time to scrape the barrel, move around a bit and wonder if the back of the fork can be used as a teaspoon, if two-minute noodles can be eaten for breakfast, if two t-shirts underneath your shirt is as warm as a jersey over the shirt.

We are not thinking out of the box, we are taking slightly more interest in the normal stuff inside the box.  Thinking outside the box is to think of an axle to make use of the wheel.  It is inventing the engine to power tools and free the person to do something else.  Thinking outside the box led to the use of money, led to the alphabet, the telephone, introduced us to plastic, and made radio and television possible.

I have realized something awful.  You need a vivid imagination to think outside the box, because you have to imagine the impossible and make it work.  You must lie convincingly enough to believe that it is possible, and then have the tenacity to carry it through to the end.

Luckily my logic must be flawed.  Politicians and lawyers are not inventors, are they?