We don't know who discovered water, but one thing is clear — it wasn't a fish
How do you escape a paradigm? At a Stanford computer forum, Alan Kay quoted Marshall McLuhan: "I don't know who discovered water, but one thing is clear — it wasn't a fish." It means that stepping back from the environment you're part of and seeing it fresh is extraordinarily hard. But in order to break through a paradigm, we have to recognize that 'we're all living inside one.' Only once you recognize the limits can you even attempt to break past them. (52p)
From Steven J. Parley, translated by Jung Hyun-sun, Bursting Ideas (Momentum)
Solutions are usually right in front of us. The question is whether we have the 'eyes' to see them. We live inside paradigms — frames for seeing the world. Paradigms let us see the world simply. They help us judge and predict situations quickly as we go through life. They're the mental framework we need to live in a complex world. But sometimes we need to step outside that frame — when we need to come up with something innovative rather than routine, or work out a solution to a difficult problem. Stepping out of the paradigm you're used to is never easy. Just as it's not easy for a fish living in water to be 'aware' of water. "I don't know who discovered water, but one thing is clear — it wasn't a fish." When I need to step a pace away from the environment I'm in and gain fresh 'eyes,' this story about the fish and the water is worth remembering.
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