Antedating of "Outside the Box" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Forgot to add.  The relevant issues is supposed to be vol 11, #4.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 12:26 PM
> To: 'American Dialect Society'
> Cc: 'Barry Popik'
> Subject: RE: Antedating of "Outside the Box" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> Reviving an old thread . .  .
>
> A Google Books search for "think outside the box"  (delimited to 1900
- 1990)
> yields a snippet view of what purports to be a 1936 citation from _The
New
> Yorker_.  I'd bet that the metadata here is screwed up.  But on the
off chance
> that it is correct (and if it is, this is a pretty big antedating),
does
> anyone on the list have either the CD-ROM archives or a subscription
to _The
> New Yorker_ that includes the online archives, and can you confirm the
> citation?
>
> Thanks.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> > Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 6:10 PM
> > To: Mullins, Bill AMRDEC; 'American Dialect Society'
> > Cc: 'ZINGMAST at LSBU.AC.UK'; 'zingmast at sbu.ac.uk'
> > Subject: RE: Antedating of "Outside the Box" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> > More circumstantial support for the "puzzle theory" origins of
"outside the
> > box".
> >
> > Marjorie Van de Water "What to do about Thinking in a Rut" _Salt
Lake
> Tribune_
> > 1/10/1937 p 72 [syndicated by EveryWeek Magazine; also found in
Laredo TX
> > Times, Ogden UT Standard Examiner, Montana Butte Standard, and other
> > Newspaperarchive papers.]
> >
> > "The dot puzzle provides another example of how ironbound the
average
> person's
> > thinking is by preconceived ideas.  Perhaps you would like to try
it.
> >
> > [followed by illustrations.  Illo #1:  3 x 3 grid of dots.  Illo #2
Array of
> > dots with line going from center to top center; top center to top
right; top
> > right to bottom right; bottom right to bottom left; bottom left to
top left
> --
> > 5 line segments in a clockwise spiral from center outward]
> >
> > Nine dots are arranged in the form of a square.  The problem is to
join
> these
> > nine dots with a series of continuous straight lines without taking
your
> > pencil from the paper.  It is easy to connect the nine dots in the
form of a
> > square with a series of five straight lines.  But can you do it with
only
> four
> > lines?   . . .
> >
> > The answers for these problems are given elsewhere on this page. In
each
> case
> > the solution depends upon ridding yourself of your original notion.
> >
> > With the dots, if you had trouble with the problem it was probably
because
> you
> > were trying to stay within the square with your lines.  The wording
of the
> > problem suggested this to you although a second reading will show
you that
> > nowhere is this requirement staled. Let your pencil go beyond the
limits of
> > the square and you will have much less difficulty. . .
> >
> > [an illustration shows the solution]"
> >
> > While the phrase "outside of the box" does not appear in the
article,
> > everything that connects the puzzle to the phrase does -- "fresh
angles",
> > "keep your mind open", "stay within the square" and other pertinent
phrases
> do
> > show up.  Whoever originated the phrase may have read this article,
or went
> > through the same line of thinking.
> >
> >
> > Also . . .
> >
> > Advertisement [for the book _How to make a habit of success_ by
Bernard
> > Haldane, on sale at Brentano's bookstore] _New York Times_,
11/10/1960 col 1
> >
> > "Are You Boxing Yourself In? [3 x 3 grid of dots]  In this book the
author
> > uses the diagram above as a simple test* to show how many people are
putting
> > stumbling blocks in their own path by the way they THINK.
> >
> > *the test is a simple one, just join all nine dots with four
straight lines
> > without taking your pencil from the paper"
> >
> >
> > Also . .  .
> > "From priest to professional" By Heather Firehock _The Washington
> > Post_(Potomac Magazine Section) Nov 14, 1971; p 37 col 1
> > "The "class" is asked, for instance, to connect nine dots arranged
in a
> three-
> > by-three square, using only four straight lines and without lifting
the
> pencil
> > from the paper.  [picture of 3x3 grid of dots]
> > Seldom can anyone do it.  The trick is to let the lines go beyond
the square
> -
> > - get outside the box.  It's a mind-opening exercise.  Everyone
wants to
> stay
> > within the artificial confines of the box -- which in fact does not
exist
> even
> > on paper."
> >
> >
> > The puzzle also appears in an article on Creative Thinking in the
Oct 1960
> > Reader's Digest.
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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