Thinking and creativity can flourish under restricted conditions. In fact, conditions with constraints can be more conducive to creativity than conditions without.
Constraints can make us more productive and free, by reducing the number of decisions we have to make. Whether in our career, shopping, or romance, less choice counterintuitively leads to greater productivity, an increased sense of freedom, and also makes it easier to be in the moment.
Constraints can enforce the standardization of ideas. Standardization, in turn, enables ideas to evolve and persist. In the english language, the constraints of the 26-letter alphabet, syntax, and grammar enable communication, and has bequeathed to us the richness and creativity of the likes of Shakespeare and the Haiku. In science, the scientific revolution standardized experimental methods, which made experiments comparable and repeatable.
In the realm of ideas, the biggest threat to creativity and scientific progress is the lack of constraints. Without constraints, we cannot compare, experiment, or recombine ideas.
Ahrens, S. (2017). How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers.
In his book "The Paradox of Choice," Barry Schwartz used numerous examples, from shopping to career options to romance, to show that less choice can not only increase our productivity, but also our freedom and make it easier to be in the moment and enjoy it (Schwartz, 2007).
In psychology and theology, existence and being are inextricably linked. In Jordan Peterson's retelling of an old Jewish story,
If you are already everything, everywhere, always, there is nowhere to go and nothing to be. Everything that could be already is, and everything that could happen already has. And it is for this reason, so the story goes, that God created man. No limitation, no story. No story, no Being. That idea has helped me deal with the terrible fragility of Being.
A superhero who can do anything turns out to be no hero at all. He’s nothing specific, so he’s nothing. He has nothing to strive against, so he can’t be admirable