nine dot puzzle – the solution (er… not exactly…)
Prerequisite: See [nine dot puzzle](http://msanjay.weblogs.us/entries/133/my-dads-second-last-puzzle)
More than the solution to the [nine dot puzzle](http://msanjay.weblogs.us/entries/133/my-dads-second-last-puzzle)
, the struggle involved in solving it is what really matters – the point is that it’s a clear demonstration of the fundamental folly of all of humanity, regardless of race, intellect or era.
The struggle really is against invisible constraints. We feel that there’s a box around the dots that we aren’t supposed to cross, though there is none. We are often bound by constraints that may not be there at all or may be something that we ourselves invented. [Like the Eagles sing *”Prisoners of our own device”*]. Or maybe they were perceived to be there at some point, but we imagine they’re still valid long after they aren’t.
A lot of effort has goes into thinking of finding answers to problems like faster fast food, smaller cellphones and higher skyscrapers, more lethal weapons, or better political boundaries. No matter what we’re trying to solve, we’re always working within some or the other constraints.
The nine dots problem and its solution is explained in more detail [here…](http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/puzzles/ninedotsnj.html) where they say at the end *Thought is the solution, physical hard work will not work.* But the thing is thinking is exactly what the solver had been working hard at all the time! 🙂 On the contrary, one might have experienced times when a solution “pops up” after one gives up, when thoughts (atleast wrt the problem) cease. Einstein has said *”I never came across any of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking”*
Anyway, for all practical purposes lets assume we can’t help thinking, so even then, Einstein’s commented that: *”Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them.”* Consider what Buddha had said *All that we are is the result of what we have thought* – which of course would include all of our problems as well.
Anyone (including me) may claim that he has an uncanny ability to think out-of-box. But the strange thing is that while he may exhult in having gotten out of one box, he takes a while to discover (if he’s lucky) that *he’s still within another one…* and this actually seems to be recursive! In a way, its almost like the different levels while [climbing a mountain](http://msanjay.weblogs.us/entries/96/96), and it takes a while to finally get out of all the boxes, assuming of course that’s possible at all.
A hypothetical example is a person who has brilliantly comes up with a totally out-of-box solution to an almost impossible problem and even earned some award or a PhD degree. And yet he may be so proud of his qualifications that he is reluctant to mingle with anyone who does not “match his standards”, feels joy or jealousy respectively depending whether his peers are criticised or praised, and has recurring difficulties on his social front that cause untold misery not just for himself but all the other people involved as well. So its easy for others to see that while he’s got out of one box, he’s still in another one – one of prejudice for example. Its of coure easy for us to see it in his case, but much harder for ourselves!
One may expect that a scientist is typically constrained by science, but I believe Einstein was one scientist who went far out of these constraints, for example he said:
“I believe in the brotherhood of man and the uniqueness of the individual. But if you ask me to prove what I believe, I can’t. You know them to be true but you could spend a whole lifetime without being able to prove them. The mind can proceed only so far upon what it knows and can prove. There comes a point where the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge, but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap.”
~Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Came across some simple instructions that try to explain how to take such leaps, certainly I believe its not just a one time leap but a continuos ongoing lifelong process:
—
It takes an open mind to appreciate and recognize new ideas and information. New questions can change what we see, and the way we respond to and resolve problems. In keeping with Einstein’s tools of thought, here are four easy mental guidelines to help you and your team stay on target:
- Nurture in yourself an ability to consider contradictory information.
Let the contradiction sink in. Challenge premature judgements.
- Develop an awareness about being too attached to your own ideas.
Past success can lull you into a false sense of security.
- Suspect “THE right answer,” especially if it’s your only answer.
One size rarely fits all, local circumstances require adjustments.
- Consciously look for alternatives.
Don’t settle for the first right answer. Develop multiple right answers.
*source: [Problem Solve Like Einstein By Arden Bercovitz, Ph.D., CSP](http://www.einsteinalive.com/?page=probsolv)*
—
Sufi poet [Rumi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi) simply couldn’t have expressed all this better when he said…
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.”
See also:
[The Wall – Pink Floyd](http://msanjay.weblogs.us/entries/136/pink-floyds-the-wall-explained)
Note: I’m grateful to have learnt the lifechanging (atleast for me) concepts presented here from, among others, [Kichu](http://msanjay.weblogs.us/entries/127/the-people-manager-workshop).
2 Comments