Not a week goes by that I am not reminded again of the fact that some people don’t even think “inside the box,” much less consider possibilities elsewhere.

Why?

I think there are several reasons. Here are three:

1. They have become captive to what Jim O’Toole so aptly characterizes as “the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom.” They fail to realize that changes have occurred inside the “box” in which they reside and feel seriously threatened by whatever challenges their ignorance.

2. They cherish their defective (if not flat-out wrong) assumptions and premises and cling to them, just as Linus clings to his security blanket.

3. They view disagreement as a personal attack, one that activates all manner of self-justifications and defense mechanisms.

Alvin Toffler had these insecure, myopic people in mind when observing, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Don’t try to change their minds. Like the residents of Plato’s “Cave,” they prefer ignorance to enlightenment. Their mind has become a mausoleum.

So be it.