Inside the Box

Not long ago, in business and life we were advised to “think outside the box.” These days it seems that to survive one must pick and choose among an almost infinite variety of ever shrinking boxes. 

Back in ’70s Berkeley, I thought of them as “cults.” Any group of 10 or more people could self-isolate, restrict access, reinforce one another, and believe the strangest things. Some were sure the world would end by the end of the year, others were certain we would all die of poison. And on and on, until they eventually got bored or something else came up. Anyone not in the cult was either ignorant or evil. 

First media, then all politics, and increasingly everyone else seems to be climbing into echoing closed cult boxes. They can convince themselves that green is purple, that sweet is sour, or more exotically that aliens float in air amidst us. The hardest cases twist absolutely everything _ events or words _ into their rigid worldview. 

It would be amusing if they mostly didn’t take themselves so deadly seriously. Literally. I’m sure at some point they will come for me. What use to them is anyone not trapped inside the box, listening to echoes all day long? 

Were it not for the existing phrase, I’d be more tempted to call it “inside the cube” and imagine hermetically sealed capsules floating in free space with no relation to reality, sanity, society, or each other.