Does Conventional Wisdom Hinder Creative Thinking?

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This type of knowledge can have both benefits and drawbacks. Sometimes these ideas allow people to understand the majority consensus and reach conclusions quickly. In other cases, conventional wisdom can make it more difficult tothink creativelyand come up with alternative solutions to problems.

The modern use of the term conventional wisdom is credited to the economist John Kenneth Galbraith who discussed the subject in his 1958 book “The Affluent Society.” Galbraith described conventional wisdom as a factor that increased institutional and societal resistance tochange.

Signs of Conventional Wisdom

Conventional wisdom is evident in many aspects of everyday life. Some signs that you are using conventional wisdom to guide your decision-making include:

Any time you do make an assumptionautomaticallywithout giving it much thought, you may be relying on conventional wisdom as a guide. It is important to remember that while these ideas are accepted, it does not mean that they are accurate.

Conventional wisdom often relies on accepting things based on faith in the opinions and expertise of others. The problem is that this knowledge isn’t necessarily rooted in verifiable evidence.

In many cases, its genesis may lie in anecdotal observations, superstitions, folklore, misunderstandings, or even badly designed research.

Conventional wisdom can apply to a wide range of subjects. Some areas where you might encounter such thinking include:

In all of these areas, people working in the field frequently rely on a body of knowledge that serves to inform and guide future ideas and actions. While people in these fields are doing research and innovating new solutions, much of this exploration is still built on a basis of generally agreed-upon knowledge.

The use or acceptability of a conventional idea can also depend on its relevance to a person’s current situation. If something seems more salient, it may also be seen as more accurate.

Examples

In the field of politics, conventional wisdom may consist of talking points that are repeated so frequently that they are accepted with little scrutiny whether they are accurate or not.

What’s the Use of Conventional Wisdom?

This type of knowledge can have a few different uses. It can serve as a way to gauge the consensus of the majority of a population. Whether the idea itself is true or not, knowing that most people believe it to be true can provide information about the needs, priorities, or opinions of a group.

Conventional wisdom can also act as something of amental shortcut. Rather than having to investigate every aspect of a problem, relying on conventional wisdom can help peoplemake decisionsor reach conclusions quickly.

Relying on conventional wisdom might be useful when:

It’s also important to recognize that conventional wisdom can be correct. An example of true conventional wisdom is that washing one’s hands with soap and water can help prevent the spread of disease. Every field has knowledge that originates in the expertise and experience of members of that group. You may find that the conventional approach is the most accurate or useful.

Impact of Conventional Wisdom

Because conventional wisdom usually goes unquestioned, it can create problems when incorrect ideas gain wide acceptance. This can make exploring new ideas much more difficult.

In cases such as this, incorrect conventional wisdom can interfere with a person’s health and the type of medical care they receive.

Conventional ideas can become a form offunctional fixedness, making it more difficult to come up with creative ways of answering a question or dealing with a problem. Fixed ideas about a problem interfere with the ability to think outside of the box or find new ways of tackling the issue.

Conventional beliefs can also be very slow to change. Even as evidence mounts to counter an idea, conventional ideas can persist.

The good news is, however, that this type of thinking and knowledge isn’t static. Over time, as research supports new ideas and demonstrates that former ideas were incorrect, changes begin to take hold and flourish.

If the conventional ideas about a topic don’t seem helpful or accurate, there are things that you can do to challenge them and test new ways of thinking. Some ways you might approach this:

When you encounter ideas that are rooted in conventional wisdom, it often makes sense to scrutinize them to assess theirvalidityand accuracy. Questioning this wisdom can help inspire further inquiry that can either support or refute old ideas and potentially lead to new and more helpful explanations.

Summary

Conventional wisdom is often characterized as a hindrance to creative thinking. Because it leads to deeply entrenched ideas that are rarely evaluated for their accuracy, it can be very difficult to change. Reconsidering conventional wisdom can often lead to new innovations.

Changing conventional beliefs isn’t always easy and can sometimes be met with resistance and other undesirable outcomes. For example, some research suggests that when new health or science recommendations challenge conventional wisdom, people may experience a decreased trust in scientific information in general.

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Galbraith JK.The Affluent Society.Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.; 1958.Brandt AM.Inventing conflicts of interest: a history of tobacco industry tactics.Am J Public Health.2012;102(1):63-71. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300292Bang D, Frith CD.Making better decisions in groups.R Soc Open Sci.2017;4(8):170193. doi:10.1098/rsos.170193Deding U, Ejlskov L, Grabas MPK, Nielsen BJ, Torp-Pedersen C, Boggild H.Perceived stress as a risk factor for peptic ulcers: a register-based cohort study.BMC Gastroenterol.2016;16:140. doi:10.1186/s12876-016-0554-9McCaffrey T.Innovation relies on the obscure: a key to overcoming the classic problem of functional fixedness.Psychol Sci.2012;23(3):215-218. doi:10.1177/0956797611429580Jensen JD, Krakow M, John KK, Liu M.Against conventional wisdom: when the public, the media, and medical practice collide.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2013;13:S4. doi:10.1186/1472-6947-13-S3-S4

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Galbraith JK.The Affluent Society.Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.; 1958.Brandt AM.Inventing conflicts of interest: a history of tobacco industry tactics.Am J Public Health.2012;102(1):63-71. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300292Bang D, Frith CD.Making better decisions in groups.R Soc Open Sci.2017;4(8):170193. doi:10.1098/rsos.170193Deding U, Ejlskov L, Grabas MPK, Nielsen BJ, Torp-Pedersen C, Boggild H.Perceived stress as a risk factor for peptic ulcers: a register-based cohort study.BMC Gastroenterol.2016;16:140. doi:10.1186/s12876-016-0554-9McCaffrey T.Innovation relies on the obscure: a key to overcoming the classic problem of functional fixedness.Psychol Sci.2012;23(3):215-218. doi:10.1177/0956797611429580Jensen JD, Krakow M, John KK, Liu M.Against conventional wisdom: when the public, the media, and medical practice collide.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2013;13:S4. doi:10.1186/1472-6947-13-S3-S4

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Galbraith JK.The Affluent Society.Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.; 1958.Brandt AM.Inventing conflicts of interest: a history of tobacco industry tactics.Am J Public Health.2012;102(1):63-71. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300292Bang D, Frith CD.Making better decisions in groups.R Soc Open Sci.2017;4(8):170193. doi:10.1098/rsos.170193Deding U, Ejlskov L, Grabas MPK, Nielsen BJ, Torp-Pedersen C, Boggild H.Perceived stress as a risk factor for peptic ulcers: a register-based cohort study.BMC Gastroenterol.2016;16:140. doi:10.1186/s12876-016-0554-9McCaffrey T.Innovation relies on the obscure: a key to overcoming the classic problem of functional fixedness.Psychol Sci.2012;23(3):215-218. doi:10.1177/0956797611429580Jensen JD, Krakow M, John KK, Liu M.Against conventional wisdom: when the public, the media, and medical practice collide.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2013;13:S4. doi:10.1186/1472-6947-13-S3-S4

Galbraith JK.The Affluent Society.Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.; 1958.

Brandt AM.Inventing conflicts of interest: a history of tobacco industry tactics.Am J Public Health.2012;102(1):63-71. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300292

Bang D, Frith CD.Making better decisions in groups.R Soc Open Sci.2017;4(8):170193. doi:10.1098/rsos.170193

Deding U, Ejlskov L, Grabas MPK, Nielsen BJ, Torp-Pedersen C, Boggild H.Perceived stress as a risk factor for peptic ulcers: a register-based cohort study.BMC Gastroenterol.2016;16:140. doi:10.1186/s12876-016-0554-9

McCaffrey T.Innovation relies on the obscure: a key to overcoming the classic problem of functional fixedness.Psychol Sci.2012;23(3):215-218. doi:10.1177/0956797611429580

Jensen JD, Krakow M, John KK, Liu M.Against conventional wisdom: when the public, the media, and medical practice collide.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2013;13:S4. doi:10.1186/1472-6947-13-S3-S4

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