What Is Lateral Thinking?

[Plenoptic 0]

Attempting to solve a problem by using non-traditional methods in order to create and identify new concepts and ideas.

Lateral thinking is when you try to find an answer that may not be logical by taking in the considerations of what could go wrong really. So say you want to get something done like dig a hole and you have 5 men to do it and you want to know how long it'll take for them to finish it. Well if it takes 3 hours for 1 man to do it you would logically think that it takes 36 minutes for 5 men to do it. Well, someone using lateral thinking will think of the possibilites that could make it take longer by 1 man being lazy, it starting to rain and stuff like that.

For more examples and problems you can try to solve using lateral thinking look here...
http://www.funonthenet.in/informative/lateral-thinking.html

Edit: fixed the link
Edited November 12, 2006 by Plenoptic (see edit history)

[salamangkero 0]

@Plenoptic Please fix the link

 

Nonetheless, I got a clearer picture with the wiki entry.

 

It seems like lateral thinking encompasses all the other "arcane, alternate, creative or just downright stupid" solutions to a problem. I guess it's just a way of thinking that is not completely bounded by the classic laws of sciences and mathematics, in a sort of way.

 

It's thinking outta the box, considering other real-world factors usually assumed non-existent in classical problems. For one, things like humidity, atmospheric pressure, ambient sound intensity and even the planetary configurations may contribute to whether a fair coin tossed might land on a head, a tail or, heaven help us, its side.

[husker 0]

Wow, that's interesting. I guess I'm pretty bad at it because I only got one of the four questions right on that page. I don't like to think out of the box like this, I just do it the way it would seem, like on the problem you had above Pleno. I only do the math on those and don't think about how it could change, because it's rare. Sure, if one man was lazy on the digging problem then it would take a little longer, but the odds of someone being lazy is the same as someone being hard-working, so I think they would just balance out. It might take them an extra 2 minutes or so, but I think lateral thinking plays just a small role on problems. It's interesting though, it makes you think.

[rvalkass 5]

I'm quite good at lateral thinking, simply because I always come out with random reasons why things are impossible, or what could happen, although it's about as likely as a herd of elephants on an Intercity train going through my garden. I had a pretty good idea with those problems Pleno, I managed to guess em all

[ghostrider 0]

Lateral thinking and thinking outside the box are both very good skills to have. Thanks for posting this.

[tuddy 0]

It may be very good skills to have, but if you think aabout it, would you have these kind of thoughts without the logical thoughts first? No. Why you ask?I'll use the above example: It may take 5 men 10mins to dig the required holee, but as was stated one coul be lazy and it takes an extra 5mins. Woul you beable to say i may take 15mins if you didnt logically think first that it would take 10mins? No.My point here is, both types of thinking are actually logical. Logical thinking would be planning something, but if you were thinking logically you would factor in time or resources for any extra time or sitiaution etc. What i believe most people are refering to here is the fact that 'thinking outside the box' has to do with 'on the spot' thinking were you don't have the time to think logically about what happening you just do it.

[Plenoptic 0]

It may be very good skills to have, but if you think aabout it, would you have these kind of thoughts without the logical thoughts first? No. Why you ask?
I'll use the above example: It may take 5 men 10mins to dig the required holee, but as was stated one coul be lazy and it takes an extra 5mins. Woul you beable to say i may take 15mins if you didnt logically think first that it would take 10mins? No.

My point here is, both types of thinking are actually logical. Logical thinking would be planning something, but if you were thinking logically you would factor in time or resources for any extra time or sitiaution etc.

What i believe most people are refering to here is the fact that 'thinking outside the box' has to do with 'on the spot' thinking were you don't have the time to think logically about what happening you just do it.

As confusing as that was, I get what you mean. But the point is though that you are calculating things in that you can't really measure all that well and it is more of an estimation really. The digging a whole thing is really something that would be logical to fit in the time for lazyness and breaks but there are some that may not be so easy to think about. If I can find the other example I had I'll post that as well.

[lindsaybernsen 0]

I think everyone participates in lateral thinking to some degree, they just dont realize it. Any type we pass into the subjunctive and utter a "what if..." we are engaging in lateral thinking. The difference is the terminology. The most interesting thing about giving such a specific label to analyzing the causality of events is that it made me reconsider standardized testing. Logical thinking is wonderful, but impractical. It's only when you re using lateral thinking, taking all possible circumstances into effect that you are actually prepared. True, a logical manager would do this by default, but not simply from a mathmatical equation. He/she would build in some extra time to spare from experience. The tests we give students today dont measure their abilities to apply these concepts, or at least not objectively. I recognize how difficult it would be to create, much less grade, an objective problem-solving test for students, but our current system relies upon the notion of black and white right or wrong answers when the world ought to be viewed as varying shades of gray. Teaching students to believe all problems have a single answer is misleading and dangerous. I know that I for one, have always 'over-analyzed' tests. I constantly called my teachers over to solidify the setting of the question because in one situtation it would be true, but not in another, and though one setting was implied nothing was explicit. It was yet another symptom of what they used to call 'alpha syndrome.' The children who passed the g/t tests in my classes all did the same thing.

[Voidless_Shadows 0]

I got all the questions right! = DI actually had something occur today where I was able to use thinking laterally as advice/support for an argument

[me_boxer_dude 0]

Lateral thinking sure sounds like out of the box(though I think like that all the time and didnt really knew the word for it). Thanx for the nice link as well, I went through the questions and found the lighthouse one particularly amazing.

[NigaiAmaiYume 0]

I got the only problem I hadn't already heard (The egg one) just about instantly. All the others I'd already heard, which is the problem with me doing riddles. LOL A friend at work gave me a page of them to do to test me, and I had to star half of them as "cheats" because I already knew the answers.For me, it's not so much an issue with "lateral thinking" - I have to work at thinking INSIDE the box. I tend to think in symbols and in general groups entirely too easily.There's this book I read for a Sci-Fi Lit course that I can't think of the name of for the life of me. A group of genetically engineered people eventually leave Earth for a space satillite, sick of the discrimination and being forced to live among "lesser" people. THEIR children, however, are exponentially smarter - when talking among themselves, they can skip several lines of reasoning assuming the others will follow the implied logic, and write using webs of symbols and plans.I had the HARDEST time understanding why the parents were so SCARED of these children - it was the first time I HONESTLY realized that how I thought wasn't the way OTHERS did. Because those webs and chains of logic - even if I couldn't understand them, it was due to the lack of knowledge about the SUBJECT, not being able to follow the deductive leaps. In short: I'm a freak. Fortunately, I've managed to find a few people that think like me as friends. Although not to the same extent; I still confuse them like ANYTHING. "A Mary story" is our slang for "something bizzare and confusing that almost makes sense, if you're INSANE". ^-^To which I add the carvet: Lateral Thinking isn't always a good thing. You end up thinking outside the box so much, you miss the obvious answers. One of the riddles on that test sheet was pretty much a basic math problem with coins. I left the answer blank, because I had gone through it at EVERY angle, trying to find a trick that didn't exist.

[Voidless_Shadows 0]

I think you're thinking about lateral thinking too much... >.>
Just kidding, I aggree though, I feel really really stupid when I try to overthink things, I do it so much
I glad there are other weird people though!
The only person who thinks exactly like me is my sister, but we're both really weird >.>
It doesn't really affect any friendships other than sometimes I can't stand how obvious some things people miss are and I guess its the same for them as me

[hr=noshade]
I found some more lateral thinking puzzles, I've heard most of them before
http://eluzions.com/Puzzles/Lateral/[/hr]

Notice from truefusion:

Merged double post. Please use the edit feature, instead of double posting. Thanks.

[Plenoptic 0]

Ya lateral thinking is pretty much thinking outside the box but just a different term. From what I have heard though that the more smarter you are or use lateral thinking that you start to lose like common sense and do indeed start to over think things but that just could because you practice lateral thinking more I don't know if it's true or not.

[salamangkero 0]

From what I have heard though that the more smarter you are or use lateral thinking that you start to lose like common sense and do indeed start to over think things but that just could because you practice lateral thinking more I don't know if it's true or not.

True, true, although not always. I once read about some guy who was asked one of those wistful questions, "If you were to take a vacation anywhere for a day, where would you like to be?" and began thinking, "That depends. How much money will I have? How about the weather? What time of the year will it be and what will be the climate there?"

It's hard, yes, to acquire the habit of lateral thinking but I guess it's just a fair tradeoff. You can't be greedy and have everything, ne? I won't be audacious enough to say I always think outside the box but I do find my friends either bored or annoyed when I ask, "Assuming you were to be teleported anywhere with whatever luggage you wish, arriving upon whatever climate and setting you want, chock full with whichever boys/girls/people you'd like, where would you like to be, if you could only remain there for only 12 hours and what would you do then, if your actions will not have any effect on the master plan or grand design?" instead of "Where and what will be your dream vacation?" Likewise, I do find myself perplexed when they ramble about something so obvious I ignore it only to realize what they really meant later on (D'oh! moments)

Oh, and it is also awkward for dirty chat (I prefer the term "brainstorming erotic literature"), although I did thankfully manage to find a few jewels in the rough sane enough to understand what I meant

[NigaiAmaiYume 0]

I miss SO much that others find obvious.There's this commercial with a kid swinging a sling, as a shadow advances. Gradually, a lot more people join in, and you find out it's a message about donating to Cancer Research.I don't know HOW often I saw it, but definitely several hundred times. Suddenly, it clued in: David and Goliath! I'd TOTALLY missed the meaning. o_OLast time I had an IQ test done (Junior high, so LONG ago...) I got in the genius range... Do well on Mensa stuff, too, so I guess I'm an example of high intelligence = good lateral thinking = poor common sense. ^-^