lateral thinking

Psychology

2022

We explain what lateral thinking is, the elements that compose it and its characteristics. Also, some simple examples.

Lateral thinking involves thinking "outside the box" of traditional logic.

What is lateral thinking?

It is known as lateral thinking (from the English Lateral thinking) to a form of reasoning mental that allows the resolution of problems through the application of imaginative or creative solutions.

The term was first used in 1967, in Edward de Bono's book New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking, as the name of a thought pattern that is governed by paths other than those used by traditional logical reasoning (then called "vertical thinking"), thus giving new perspectives to any situation.

Since then, this term has become popular in the fields of psychology individual and social, as a tool to encourage thought outside of the usual or expected patterns.

Its central idea can be summarized in that, when evaluating the premises of any problem, we generally look for some natural or habitual pattern of thought to find a solution. Thus we arrive at the same result over and over again.

Lateral thinking, then, aspires to break these patterns and look for alternative, different paths that lead to the resolution of the problem. trouble. It is what English speakers call Think outside the box ("Think outside the box").

In this way, the theory of lateral thinking proposes that by applying this model of thinking to our daily dilemmas, we could trigger change and find novel, highly creative answers to dilemmas that we have been solving in a habitual way.

For this, we would require training in this type of reasoning, which usually consists of facing a series of riddles very similar to those koan of the tradition Zen.

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Lateral thinking characteristics

Lateral thinking is based on distancing yourself from traditionally traveled mental paths. That is, it requires a break with expectations and a commitment to creativity and novel perspectives.

In that sense, go to methods Y techniques that are not normally associated with organized thought, such as provocations, which are a kind of “gamesMental "designed to seek alternative ways of reasoning." Some taunts may be escape dynamics, random words, analogies, exaggerations or divisions of the problem.

Either way, lateral thinking aspires to be a problem-solving technique, but at the same time a path to a logic different, more flexible, capable of adapting to each situation it faces and not always going to the same toolbox to face different problems.

Elements of lateral thinking

Lateral thinking is based on four basic or fundamental elements:

  • Checking the assumptions. Something similar to what we commonly understand by “keeping an open mind”: distrusting immediate values, prejudices and the previous reasoning that arises before the initial exposition of the premises of the problem, since they are common places, encapsulate thought and impede creativity.
  • Formulating the right questions. Lateral thinking suggests that instead of focusing on the solution, we must first find the pertinent questions, and thus know what kind of answer we need. This is often thought of as a reverse and counterintuitive perspective: thinking the question and not the answer.
  • The entrance of creativity.Change and creative perspectives are valued by lateral thinking, since by incorporating elements that would not normally seem part of the whole, new areas can be illuminated, find part of a new dynamic or simply provide a new focus or perspective.
  • The logical thinking. Logical deduction, rigorous thinking, and the ability to interpret are the active core of lateral thinking, to which all creative perspectives or alternative reasoning must lead.

Simple examples of lateral thinking

Lateral thinking allows us to consider more options than usual.

Here are five simple examples of lateral thinking, expressed as riddles:

  • The castaway's dilemma. A castaway needs to transfer to his island of residence some wreckage of his ship, which emerged on the shore of the island opposite. There he has a fox, a rabbit and a bunch of carrots, which in his boat he can carry at the rate of one per trip. How can you take everything to your island, without the fox eating the rabbit, and the rabbit eating the carrots?

Answer: You will need to take the rabbit first and leave the fox with the carrots. Then go back and take the fox, which he will leave alone on his island, take the rabbit and take him back to the one in front. Then he will carry the carrots, leaving the rabbit alone and placing them next to the fox. Finally he will return to make one last trip with the rabbit.

  • The elevator dilemma. A man who lives on the tenth floor of a building takes the elevator to the ground floor every day to go to work. In the afternoon, however, he takes the same elevator again, but if there is no one with him, he goes down to the seventh floor and takes the rest of the floors up the stairs. Why?

Answer: The man is a dwarf and cannot push the button for the tenth floor.

  • The balloon paradox. How can we puncture a balloon with a needle without leaking the air and without the balloon popping?

Answer: We must puncture the balloon while it is deflated.

  • The bar's dilemma. A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a glass of Water. The bartender looks under the bar and suddenly points a gun at the man. The latter thanks and leaves. What just happened?

Answer: The bartender noticed that the man had hiccups, and decides to cure it by giving him a good scare.

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