False beliefs, rather than innate limits, can stump our efforts to solve puzzles. Examples of this are standard fare in textbooks on cognitive science. In one example, people are given a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches. They’re asked to fasten the candle to a wall so that, when lit, its wax can’t drip on the floor. Most people fail. They tacitly assume that the box must do one thing—hold thumbtacks. They don’t think to dump the tacks out of the box, to use the tacks to fasten the box to the wall, and to put the candle in the box. To solve the puzzle, they must challenge a
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