Unable to think outside the box?

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I have started to realise that I miss information that is supposedly straight forward, especially during exams a lot of the questions require application of knowledge and generally are presented in a manner that may seem completely irrelevant to the question and you're somehow supposed to figure out what it's asking of you.

For some reason I cannot think outside of the box and put 2 and 2 together for a question that is seemingly straight forward to NT's, yesterday I was surprised to find out that a question about pH's and Viskin tubes that are partially permeable was actually a question that expected an answer about osmotic water loss and gain - for some reason I couldn't figure it out!

I prefer questions that are straight forward and straight to the point and require concrete information If you asked me "what is osmosis" I would be able to answer it, but these questions seem to beat around the bush and don't get straight to the point.

Anyone else have a similar problem?

I have trouble thinking inside other people's boxes, if that makes any sense.

Anything I have to learn that doesn't "map onto" what I already know, is likely to be delayed while I work out how to fit the non-fitting piece into my jigsaw. It's as if my knowledge is arranged very carefully and doesn't take kindly to add-ons unless they happen to be the right shape.

When I was trying to learn about osmosis, for example, I wanted to reject the new terms - to rename "semi-permeable" as "porous," and "osmosis" was just an unnecessary word to learn, all I needed was the concept of diffusion, and the obvious fact that molecules small enough to get through the pores of such a membrane would be free to do so. I guess I passed the exam by grudgingly learning the conventional wording, and then successfully used porous tubing in my job without ever needing the conventional language again. Though I didn't like the names for some of the gadgets. We had a "pressure dialysis" gadget (complete with a "dialysis membrane") that simply pumped solutions through a porous filter. That's a one-way process, but "dialysis" implies two-way movement.

I always get hung up on what look like illogical names and descriptions of things.

Yes, I've had that problem myself with regards to exam questions. If they give you a practical example of some physical principle, then what you need to do is think about what the example is illustrating and then think about what physical principle you've learned that could explain it. Taking your example of the Viskin tubes for instance, the question would probably state that the tubes are semi-permeable and it says that it initially contains water with higher Ph than outside then would ask why water outside would fill up the tubes inside.

Well, since the question tells you that the tubes are semi-permeable, you know that this means that the water can move through the walls of the tube, then you need to think about why more water would go into them than leak out. The pH level inside the tube probably indicates that there's a higher concentration of something dissolved in the water than outside. That's when you realise that osmosis is the process by which water (or technically any other solvent in the physics sense) moves across a semi-permeable membrane from a region of low concentration to a high concentration of solute, so you realise the description fits the definition of osmosis.

I have trouble thinking outside the box sometimes, too. Apparently, I keep taking things literally and "by the book", while in life there are things that don't go the way they're expected to. It happens when there's a role I'm used to do and being in that role, I end up thinking that whatever I'm ready for I'll easily overcome what I want to face, but I'll end up facing something I'm not really expecting or what I'm suitable for. It happens to me a lot. It makes me feel like an idiot when they happen, but I think I'm being too hard on myself.

As a general rule, schooling beyond the primary grades is going to require you to go beyond that which was explicitly taught and make your own inferences and judgments. Mere facts are of limited use, and course work and exams reflect that to a greater or lesser extent.

I'm shocked, and disappointed in you.

I assumed that anyone who would call themselves "Destined to be a Potato" would be good at "thinking outside of the box".

[quote="naturalplastic"]I'm shocked, and disappointed in you.

I assumed that anyone who would call themselves "Destined to be a Potato" would be good at "thinking outside of the box exams [quote]

I am equally disappointedointed in myself tbh. In other aspects I am able to completely go out there and I am capable of thinking outside of the confines of my box. However when it comes to exams, my poor reading comprehension and literal interpretation of words kind of gets in the way, and I completely miss the point of the question - hence why I can't think outside of the box.