Let's talk about the concept of thinking inside or outside the box.

[Daydreamer]

As a child, I would often confuse the adults around me because they didn't understand the connections that I would make. It didn't occur to me at the time to stop and explain my thought process, because I incorrectly assumed that what was obvious to me was automatically obvious to others. My teachers considered my way of thinking to be incorrect, so they sent me to a school counsellor and remarked that it would help me to make "more obvious, inside the box connections".

The counselling that I received was exceptionally poor quality, she didn't listen and try to help me, rather the counsellor just tried to brainwash me into giving the answers she wanted. I was given work books and told what answers I should write down, whenever I tried to question why I was doing this and why I couldn't approach the questions from another angle she would scold me so I got used to just writing whatever she wanted me to.

Now, I wasn't trying to be a difficult kid, rather I just wasn't sure what was expected of me. People would keep harping on about how I needed to make more obvious mental connections, but what is obvious...really? Since the first things that popped into my head were deemed by those around me as not obvious, and that I needed to consider something even more apparent, it was clear that although they deemed it more apparent I considered both connections to be equally so.

At first I thought that I was just stupid, but overtime I realised that there was nothing wrong with my connections but rather the way I went about explaining them. I lacked the awareness that not everyone was following the points I was trying to make, as I didn't fully catch on to their confusion. When I became more aware of this, I was able to stop and explain "Oh, I got from point A to point B due to...". This made the people around me realise that I wasn't simply mad and coming up with nonsense, but actually my thoughts did make sense after all.

When I was in Primary school, I had one lesson where I was rather rebellious. Our teacher gave us a supposedly subjective thought exercise where she explained how she viewed it. I reworded her answer, and when asked why I had done so I remarked "Well, although you say it's subjective, it's clear that you expect us to reach the same conclusion as you. After all, whenever I try to give my own supposedly subjective answer on anything you say it's wrong, so I figured I might as well save time and just give you what you want".

The teacher was furious, so we had a rather heated argument over this where she told me to shut up repeatedly but I kept bringing it up. She admitted that she wanted people to reach the same conclusion, but she wanted them to do it by themselves. I brought up the fact that she said it was subjective, and argued that there could be more than one interpretation. She replied that there was only one, so I asked how it was subjective then. This argument went on for a few minutes. I was a stubborn child. Haha.

 

[the_tortoise]

One lesson I had a rather rebellious moment, the teacher gave us a supposedly subjective thought exercise where she explained how she viewed it. I reworded her answer, and when asked why I had done so I remarked "Well, although you say it's subjective, it's clear that you expect us to reach the same conclusion as you. After all, whenever I try to give my own supposedly subjective answer on anything you say it's wrong, so I figured I might as well save time and just give you what you want".

The teacher was furious, so we had a rather heated argument over this where she told me to shut up repeatedly but I kept bringing it up. She admitted that she wanted people to reach the same conclusion, but she wanted them to do it by themselves. I brought up the fact that she said it was subjective, and argued that there could be more than one interpretation. She replied that there was only one, so I asked how it was subjective then. This argument went on for a few minutes.

This is brilliant, well done!

 

[Pats]

I'm sure I would had done exactly the same thing. I got into arguments with many a teacher because I didn't agree with their methods.
But it's like in the iq part of testing for autism and he asked what melts, burns and is made with wax? My first response was chocolate. He looked at me kind of funny, so then I said - "Oh you're looking for candle aren't you?" But to me chocolate was just as obvious because it burns if you cook it too long or too fast, it melts easily, and it is made with wax/paraffin in it. So tell me why it would have been a wrong answer.
Sometimes I'm slower getting to the 'right' answer.
I remember before taking the boards for nursing and one of our instructors telling us that on the test all the answers will be correct, but we would have to choose the best correct one. I'm surprised I passed it - but was glad I passed it the first time because from then on they changed it to the computer tests and I wasn't so up on computers at that time. phew!

 

[Annanda]

The teacher was furious, so we had a rather heated argument over this where she told me to shut up repeatedly but I kept bringing it up. She admitted that she wanted people to reach the same conclusion, but she wanted them to do it by themselves. I brought up the fact that she said it was subjective, and argued that there could be more than one interpretation. She replied that there was only one, so I asked how it was subjective then. This argument went on for a few minutes. I was a stubborn child. Haha.

Very brave!
Oscar Wilde once said:"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."
I often think of this quote, unfortunately not until I got in trouble.

 

[Judge]

Here's a perfect example of thinking inside the box. My spouse had to take a work-related psychology test. The question was: Did you love your father? True or False? He answered False, his father died when he was three years old and he had little memory of him.

This answer and a few others without any explanation provided the basis for him to be forced into attending therapy sessions.

That's pretty bad to administer such a test without any comments allowed pertinent to the questions.

Yeah, deep inside the box.

 

[Daydreamer]

But it's like in the iq part of testing for autism and he asked what melts, burns and is made with wax? My first response was chocolate. He looked at me kind of funny, so then I said - "Oh you're looking for candle aren't you?" But to me chocolate was just as obvious because it burns if you cook it too long or too fast, it melts easily, and it is made with wax/paraffin in it. So tell me why it would have been a wrong answer.

What is obvious to someone highly depends on both their knowledge and perspective. Perhaps the person administering the test was unaware that Paraffin is sometimes used when making chocolate. Admittedly I was.

Some inexpensive chocolates are blended with wax.

Facts about Chocolate - Chocolate Trivia | Chocolate of the Month Cub

So someone who is unaware of this may think, oh, they're getting the word for chocolate and the word for candle mixed up. However, with someone who knows this fact, it is indeed obvious to them. That's the problem with such tests, a simple misunderstanding has the potential to skew the results. Personally, I think that they should've asked you to explain your thoughts.

On a slightly different note, common knowledge tests have always annoyed me, because on some that I have taken it has asked such questions as "What is the diameter of *insert lake here*?". This is common knowledge? Really? So you're telling me that the majority of people know random measurements of lakes off by heart?

I usually avoid such quizzes because they usually cover things I have no interest in, and therefore have no clue about.

I'm sure I would had done exactly the same thing. I got into arguments with many a teacher because I didn't agree with their methods.

There were quite a few teachers that I disagreed with, so I've certainly plenty more stories of arguments than the one I previously mentioned. Unfortunately, because I was a quiet student I was typically presumed to be quite passive, so manipulative teachers would occasionally try to take advantage of this because they assumed that I would not complain about unfair treatment.

One teacher in particular decided to single me out and blame me for her mistake. However, she made a fatal error. Next to her was a pile of paperwork that proved the mistake was a widespread administrative one rather than a fault on my side. At first I tried to explain this calmly to her, but after the third time of being interrupted and ignored I decided to pick up the big pile of papers and dump it right in front of her.

She went quiet as that took her by surprise. I told her to look at the pile of papers, and went into a rant which both explained how I was not the one at fault, whilst also covering some of my grievances with how she conducted her lessons. There was an unwritten rule that you must never question her, and although I was both aware of this rule and usually followed it, I decided that I had reached my limit that day. If I hadn't, I would've had to take the blame for her, and correct the issue, so I decided that with such glaring evidence right next to her it simply wasn't worth it. Also, she acted rather condescendingly to me and implied that I didn't know how to use basic computer functions properly.

"Look, just look at this!" I instructed as I dumped the paper in front of her. "OK? This is everyone else's work, and how about that, no one else has put the right sheet either! So how about you check other people's work before you single me out? And you know why no one else has done it correctly? Because you gave us the wrong sheet! I did what you asked and look!" I added, before bringing up the computer file on her computer screen in front of her that she had asked for. "You see? It's the wrong sheet! No one corrected you because everyone thinks you are scary, and you don't listen! You don't! So how about you check work other than mine? And maybe just maybe I'm not the one who can't use a computer!".

...Looking back on it now, I probably could've put that in more tactful terms, but her condescending behaviour was not an isolated event and I was going through a lot back then (things which might be better suited to the serious discussion section of this website). I was fifteen at the time. She apologised and gave me the right sheet. Other students referred to me as cocky after that. It didn't take long for things to go back to normal though.

 

[Pats]

What is obvious to someone highly depends on both their knowledge and perspective. Perhaps the person administering the test was unaware that Paraffin is sometimes used when making chocolate. Admittedly I was.



Facts about Chocolate - Chocolate Trivia | Chocolate of the Month Cub

So someone who is unaware of this may think, oh, they're getting the word for chocolate and the word for candle mixed up. However, with someone who knows this fact, it is indeed obvious to them. That's the problem with such tests, a simple misunderstanding has the potential to skew the results. Personally, I think that they should've asked you to explain your thoughts.

On a slightly different note, common knowledge tests have always annoyed me, because on some that I have taken it has asked such questions as "What is the diameter of *insert lake here*?". This is common knowledge? Really? So you're telling me that the majority of people know random measurements of lakes off by heart?

I usually avoid such quizzes because they usually cover things I have no interest in, and therefore have no clue about.



There were quite a few teachers that I disagreed with, so I've certainly plenty more stories of arguments than the one I previously mentioned. Unfortunately, because I was a quiet student I was typically presumed to be quite passive, so manipulative teachers would occasionally try to take advantage of this because they assumed that I would not complain about unfair treatment.

One teacher in particular decided to single me out and blame me for her mistake. However, she made a fatal error. Next to her was a pile of paperwork that proved the mistake was a widespread administrative one rather than a fault on my side. At first I tried to explain this calmly to her, but after the third time of being interrupted and ignored I decided to pick up the big pile of papers and dump it right in front of her.

She went quiet as that took her by surprise. I told her to look at the pile of papers, and went into a rant which both explained how I was not the one at fault, whilst also covering some of my grievances with how she conducted her lessons. There was an unwritten rule that you must never question her, and although I was both aware of this rule and usually followed it, I decided that I had reached my limit that day. If I hadn't, I would've had to take the blame for her, and correct the issue, so I decided that with such glaring evidence right next to her it simply wasn't worth it. Also, she acted rather condescendingly to me and implied that I didn't know how to use basic computer functions properly.

"Look, just look at this!" I instructed as I dumped the paper in front of her. "OK? This is everyone else's work, and how about that, no one else has put the right sheet either! So how about you check other people's work before you single me out? And you know why no one else has done it correctly? Because you gave us the wrong sheet! I did what you asked and look!" I added, before bringing up the computer file on her computer screen in front of her that she had asked for. "You see? It's the wrong sheet! No one corrected you because everyone thinks you are scary, and you don't listen! You don't! So how about you check work other than mine? And maybe just maybe I'm not the one who can't use a computer!".

...Looking back on it now, I probably could've put that in more tactful terms, but her condescending behaviour was not an isolated event and I was going through a lot back then (things which might be better suited to the serious discussion section of this website). I was fifteen at the time. She apologised and gave me the right sheet. Other students referred to me as cocky after that. It didn't take long for things to go back to normal though.

I laugh only because it sounds soooo much like me.

 

[TempeFan]

I am ambi-brained, so my box thinking is kinda inside-outside-upside-down-and-sideways.

I was about to take an IQ test for mensa but the first question was so stupid, as well as racially biased, that I didn't bother. It was a word association: What goes with "cup?" a. table b. spoon c. saucer d. plate
The correct answer was c. saucer, which made it obvious that the test wasn't designed to measure intelligence but social status. An economically challenged person from an American ghetto, who had never had tea with the queen, would never have gotten that one right, as they put their cup directly on the table next to their plate and spoon, if they are lucky enough to have that much tableware. To some one not well versed in social ettiquette, a saucer is a UFO. My husband insists the answer should be A, B, C, D or better yet DD.

For me, school was a picnic compared to home. Straight A's was a survival tactic, so I had to be really good about guessing which answer to put on the paper. By the time I hit the first grade, I had already been through nursery school, junior kindergarten and kindergarten and knew my ABC's and 123's backwards and forwards, while my classmates had never seen the inside of a classroom before, so I seemed smart even though I wasn't. Most of my teachers were nice with some exceptions. I usually sat in the front row because I didn't want to miss anything I might need to regurgitate later. Since teachers and students usually picked on kids in the back row, I was usually safe up front. However, as an Aspy, sometimes one would see a look on my face or gesture or something I didn't realize I was doing that they misinterpreted as me not paying attention. They would try to shame me by calling on me when they didn't think I understood the lesson. Boy! were they caught off guard and sputtering each time I recited the correct answer.

 

[Progster]

People think in memes, which collectively form a culture, and those who think outside the box are those who don't adhere to the memes, or are able to see beyond them.

 

[Annanda]

People think in memes, which collectively form a culture,

Very interesting! This explains a lot ...

 

[Graphin]

Whenever there Is a lot I can and want to tell, I just suddenly stop being able to. This is one of those situations.

At school we barely get multiple choice tests, and I often put in more effort in looking like I paid attention than actually doing it