Idea Powers No. 3 of 28
They call it: Uses things wrong We call it
Also known as unusual-uses thinking.
The short version You can look at an ordinary object and see five other jobs it could do.
Collected. 0 of 28.
You see what a thing could do, not what it is for. Psychologists test this by asking people for unusual uses of everyday things. To you, a brick is a weight, a step and a doorstop at the same time.
In a study of 90 students, the 45 with ADHD named more unusual uses for objects like a brick or a bucket, and did worse on a test with only one right answer.Source 1 Clever did not always mean useful.
In a second study of 60 students, they also reported more real creative achievements outside the lab.Source 2 A remix needs somewhere to go.
Early evidence
Two studies of 60 to 90 students. The ideas were unusual more often than they were useful.
The clever use is not always the safe one. A remix can be brilliant and still be the wrong tool for the job.
Pick up one object near you and list three jobs it was never designed to do.
A box is never just a box. It can be a boat, a robot or a hiding place. You see all the things a thing could be.
Carpenter and TV host
Once I figured out I was pretty decent at art and people were interested in hiring me, I realized I had a skill besides injuring myself.
Said in: Pennington, 2012
Ty Pennington hosted Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. When he was a kid nobody had a name for what he had. Art and building became the place his energy went.
Chef behind The Fat Duck
I’ve had so many health checks, brain scans and tests over the years, until I was eventually diagnosed with very, very, very high ADHD.
Said in: Blumenthal, 2022
Heston Blumenthal was diagnosed as an adult. He describes a busy mind and a somewhat obsessive personality.