I’m  going to start out by asking you to do something a bit silly. Please bark. Now.

After all, if dogs can sing….

“Why is it so important to be a barker?” you might ask.

Well, did you know that studies show that barkers make 23% more money (on the average) as compared with regular non-barkers? 

Did you know that barkers smile an average of 27.3 times per day, as opposed to 19.6 times a day for regular people? And that they have lower blood pressure?

A Jewish example of canine humor.

Did you know that barkers live an average of 2.3 years longer than regular people?

Did you know that barkers just love to make up their own statistics? 

Most people think that creativity involves “Thinking Outside the Box”. If you Google it, you get over 500,000 search results. Apparently a lot of people believe in it. “Thinking Outside the Box” even has a lengthy Wikipedia entry.

Many people think that creativity involves “Thinking Inside the Box”. If you Google it, you get over 300,000 search results. That’s still a lot of search results.

Less people think that creativity involves “Thinking Between Boxes”.

A lot less ( 183 search results on Google).

Thinking between boxes is combining two anythings (things, ideas, words, concepts, actions, etc.) in an unanticipated way.

“Any creative act is a bisociation of two (or more) apparently incompatible frames of thought.” (Arthur Koestler)

For example, what connection could there possibly be between sticky burs…

and zippers?

According to the legend, George de Mestral found one, in 1941, when he was about 35 years old.

They called it “Velcro”. The rest is history…

But George was not just any old Joe. He was a “boxer” from an early age. Boxers are always looking to things to connect. Or bisconnect.

After all, everything is connected to everything, isn’t it?

Even yogurt. Try to find something that isn’t connected. I dare you!

Write the possibilities on the padlet below: 

Created with Padlet

I spent most of my career as a scientist. Trying to figure out the way things are. I spent a lot of time smelling people, shaking things, and turning them over. People thought I was silly. I was.

I invented a mouthwash that you have to shake before using (how silly is that?).

I turned a shoe spray upside down and patented it. Pretty silly, eh?

And I used a JEWELRY BOX to grow BACTERIA.

Scientists try to understand and describe how the world is. They try to get the right answer. If you ask them how much four and four are, they will tell you eight. But if you are a storyteller, you describe how the world isn’t. Four and four can be ten, or any other number. There are far more options when you’re wrong!!!

From Jeff the Mis-fish Meets Jimmy the Whale, illustrations Rotem Omri.

So these days, I prefer writing stories to doing science. In my alternate universe

School principals smoke hookas.

Fish wear goggles.

Laughing hyenas can develop a sense of humor

Dragons fall in love with ice cream.

And orange kazoos can fly you through space.

And if dogs can sing, the very least we can do is:

Bark!!

THANK YOU FOR BARKING!!!!

And if all else fails, you can always write a book about yogurt.

 artwork Harriet Goitein

“Anyone who is technically proficient can solve a problem that is already formulated; but it takes true originality to formulate a problem in the first place.”

-(Einstein and Infeld, 1938)

For the two-minute version, check here.