Since the concept of lateral thinking has been hijacked by an ideologically driven movement, it has been difficult to move away from the negative connotations of the term. Lateral thinking used to have a consistently positive connotation, but is now mostly used in the mainstream media to describe the lateral thinkers.
Thinking differently, as lateral thinking should be called today in order to stand out from its new connotation and at the same time to be widely accessible and which also sounds pleasantly different from lateral thinking, is a way of looking at the world in a refreshingly different way – necessarily different.
Science can complement a different way of thinking, but it cannot replace it. This has to do with the fact that the sciences are collections of methods, procedures and building blocks of knowledge that secure facts and knowledge, but do not produce them directly. The creative process of thinking differently can be pursued separately from the sciences, or it can be embedded in their methods and procedures.
Thinking differently without science can lead to art and culture or to crude world views, ideologies and conspiracy theories. Thinking differently, supported by science, usually brings new insights, understanding and progress.
Of course, this presupposes that the different thinking is free of prejudices, mental blocks and false knowledge. If the basis of the basic consideration is nonsense, then the conclusions will only be “quackery”.
Freedom, being free and thinking freely, is often postulated, but is almost never a reality and is thwarted by many types of dependency. More on this in another article on this blog.
