Daniel Quinn wrote much on “old minds” vs. “new minds” in his book, Beyond Civilization. He likened it to Einstein’s thought that, “the problems of today cannot be solved by the level thinking that created them.
Quinn goes on:
“Programs”
Old Minds think:
How do we stop these bad things from happening?
New Minds think:
How do we make the things the way we want them to be?
“No Programs At All?”
Old Minds think:
If it didn’t work last year, let’s do MORE of it this year.
New Minds think:
If it didn’t work last year, let’s do something ELSE this year.
While, Quinn spoke most obviously to society and it’s loss of vision this way of thought has seeped into my process of thought when asked to solve design challenges. Quinn also mentioned that somewhere around the age of 30 and on our minds begin to solidify its’ worldly perspective and it becomes more and more difficult to shape-shift this stance. This is of course a mechanism of survival at a primitive level, but I posit that it can stifle the growth of a society, or culture. Carl Cole called it the “Great Forgetting.”
Now, 31, I find myself at a continued and steady growth of curiosity and yearning to shape-shift my solution building. Speaking professionally, as a designer, I find this open-minded collaborative search for solving challenges to be that of a moral imperative. It makes sense that if you are to continue to produce high quality progressive designs, one must live in this state of being indefinitely.
Next time you are tasked with finding a solutions, ponder the approach of the new mind vs. the old mind.