If I Titled this "Thinking Outside the Box", I Would't be Doing So by Scott

If I Titled this "Thinking Outside the Box", I Would't be Doing So by Scott - October 2018 Scholarship Essay

To determine what thinking outside the box means, first it must be established what it means to think inside the box. To take it even another step back, what is the box? The box is where most people get their ideas, but it's more of a community box that anyone can use and borrow ideas or thoughts from. Of course this is all metaphorical, but ideas from inside the box are more common, more mainstream thoughts. Maybe it's an idea one overheard from their friends. Maybe it's an idea people have been conditioned to have through school or work such as what is right and wrong in said situation. However, to think outside of the box means to expand the mind and think, not necessarily harder, but more independently.
New ideas aren't found in a box. Is it likely that Thomas Edison reached in an old crate and discovered the lightbulb and its functions? Of course not. This was an independent thought, a revolutionary idea even. This is what it means to think outside of the box. Of course it doesn't have to be as profound of an idea as the invention of the lightbulb was. The only requirement is for the thought is for it to be independent; a different or new way of looking at the world.
Thinking outside of the box is often useful when trying solve a problem that seems unsolvable. To look at a problem in a new light may reveal a solution that was never before considered. New and independent ideas have also been crucial to the advancement of civilization. It all started with inventions such as the wheel and the cotton gin, but over time, even the notion of thinking outside the box has evolved. In addition to the continuous advancement of modern technology, in today's world people are fighting for equal rights, finding the courage to speak out, and being whatever they want to be. In the past these ideas would've been absurd, but because of forward thinkers who thought independently and didn't reach their hand in "the box" when foraging for the solution to a problem, these ideas don't seem so crazy anymore.