Divergent Thinking Puzzles

Getting Back to Riddles & Puzzles

Published on by Eugene Morgan

The Riddle of the Sphinx
Written by Eugene Morgan

Riddles and puzzles’ function are to stretch our minds.  Riddles and puzzles are a good exercise for the mind.  Riddles and puzzles are not designed to give up answers easily.  We have to work for them.  Sometimes, we give up too soon and get upset with ourselves, only to kick ourselves after looking at the answer in the answer section of the book.

However when we do work for the answer to a puzzle, we’re rewarded with “aha moment” —a feeling of satisfaction, a glimpse of enlightenment and understanding, and with a gold nugget of new perspectives.  Milton Erickson enjoys using riddles and puzzles to help the subjects to expand their minds.

Seeds of Ideas

Published on by Eugene Morgan

Flowers
Written by Eugene Morgan

“There is nothing more delightful than planting flower seeds and not knowing what kind of flowers are going to come up.” Milton Erickson

Erickson enjoyed planting seeds of ideas to his patients, students and subjects to get them into another training of thought.  When we get stuck into certain train of thought, it is hard to get out.   Like this quote, “The way out is through the  door.  Why is it that no one will use this exit?” Confucius.  What seem obvious to one person, isn’t alway obvious to another who’s thinking a certain way that’s not useful. We all have experienced someone pointing something out to us that seems obvious to them; and then it dawns on us what’s so obvious about it. After it dawn on us, we feel silly and ask ourselves why didn’t we think of that before. It’s also like an “aha” moment when we get after looking for solution. Then when we see things in hindsight , it seems so clear to us now.