Brain Teasers
Brain Teasers Trivia Mentalrobics Games Community
Personal Links
Your Favorite Articles
Browse Articles
All Topics

Search Articles

Advanced Search
Popular Articles
Letter to Yourself
Clear Your Mind
Relax the Jaw
Caffeine II
Brain Shrinking
Mind Dump
Add to Google Add to

More ways to get Braingle...








Absurd Idea





1. A rotten egg
2. Pumpkin pie
3. Wet dog
4. Freshly cut grass
5. A new car

How well did you do at recreating the smells?

For more of these exercises try Mental Smells I.



Earlier, we talked about how thinking about alternate solutions to a problem can help find creative solutions. Here's an exercise to help you practice this technique.

Imagine that you are a detective. Try to come with at least 10 different possible causes of the following situations:

1. You return to your car to see the windshield broken and an apple sitting on the seat.
2. You pass a man on the street that is wearing two different shoes.
3. A perfectly healthy tree has fallen over.
4. A pile of precariously stacked stones is discovered in the park.



According to Freud, the mind is made up of the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is concerned with satisfying our needs, the ego is aware of the self and the world, and the superego is concerned with morality.

Creative ideas originate in the unconscious id and must be filtered through the ego and superego before they can be expressed to the world. The ego may reject an idea because it is unrealistic or impractical and the superego may reject an idea because it is against our ethics.

For example, an idea to genetically engineer a purple cat might be rejected by the ego for being impossible. The idea to throw a cat into a vat of purple paint would be rejected by the superego for being cruel.

Very few creative ideas will get past an overly restrictive ego and superego. At the same time, an excessively passive ego or superego will result in the expression of many impractical or immoral ideas. Through exercises such as brainstorming, we can train our ego and superego to be more or less selective depending upon our needs.



"Groupthink" is a term used to describe a process whereby a group can make bad decisions even though each individual in the group may realize that the result is going to be bad.

People have a strong need to feel accepted in a group. Whenever an individual participates in a group, it causes the other participants to react in some way. People want to be liked, so they tend to participate in a way that gains them acceptance. One way to gain acceptance is to be very agreeable and not rock the boat. When a bad or bland idea is introduced, very few people may challenge it. If nobody proposes a better idea, groupthink can result.

Proposing a creative idea that differs from the group exposes the person and puts them in a vulnerable position. Nobody wants to fail in front of their peers or superiors. As a result, wild ideas are frequently self-censored or toned down to a level that is easily assimilated by the group. Unless there is a process that encourages wild ideas, they will seldom be introduced and groupthink can result.

Groupthink can also occur if an idea comes from higher up in the corporate ladder. Nobody wants to disagree with their boss, even if they know that the boss's idea will fail.

Brainstorming is a process that encourages wild ideas. This is one way to avoid groupthink.




Users in Chat : None 

Online Now: 13 users and 452 guests


Custom Search

Sign In A Create a free account