Motivating Success - Videos to Inspire & Motivate and is the reason my url is getofftheescalator.
It is an extreme and I think rather humorous way of showing exactly what functional fixedness is. To these people the escalator means stand there and wait tell it gets to the top. There is no other way to get to the top than to just stand their. Because they are fixed on the idea that all you can do is stand on the elevator, they are stuck.
The solution seems so simple when we are able to look at it from an observers point of view, but many people do get stuck (perhaps not physically like the two on the escalator are but at least mentally). It maybe not be in this particular circumstance, but in situations that are similar to this. Even though the answer is right there looking them in the face, they are stuck. As you can see even the maintenance man, an expert on elevators is not sure how to get out of his current position. Functional fixedness can and will happen to everyone no matter how experienced they are. Everyone can get to the top. All they simply need to do is walk off the escalator.
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteThat was an awesome example. I cracked up. Usually we are so focused on what is right in the very front of us that we miss the bigger picture. Go smell the roses and come back to what you were doing.
The longer you stare at a problem the wrong way, the further you get from an answer.
DeleteI have, honestly, seen this happen literally where an escalator breaks down and the people on it don't move for almost ten minutes because they aren't sure what to do. It is a very common in our society to be so focused on doing things one way that we may miss another route that may even be better or easier.
ReplyDeleteHaha although this is a fake video, the human traits are definitely there and have been exhibited in reality. That is why I'm a psychology major, because many times in real life scenarios like these I have asked myself, what were people thinking.
DeleteThis is such an interesting topic! I feel like this has happened to me several times in life and I didn't realize it was a thing. I mean functional fixedness not being stuck on an escalator! I've felt stuck many times and later realized the solution to the problem was rather simple, but I just had a hard time opening my mind to see it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about functional fixedness, it was glad that there was actually a word to describe this human condition. I know I do the same thing where I get stuck on a problem that is so stupendously simple. Now every time I want to palm-face because I did something so obvious I know what to point the blame on.
DeleteI love this! The example you put with it was such an eye opener. Many times we are not really stuck, sometimes we just do not want to move. There are many obstacles in life that we must face but we will overcome them.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what else is in store on your blog!
Thank you, I hope you will enjoy.
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