Nature- Beyond the Box

By: O. Astor

The ocean is an alien, barren wasteland. A cold and seemingly endless stretch of clogged blackness clings to a shapeless void.
Despite this empty and dead stretch of our world, it is teeming with life. Pressure here, seven hundred meters below the sea surface, can be up to 5,800 lbs per square inch. That is equivalent to having more than 400 cars stacked on top of you at once. Temperature here is maintained at a steady, icy four degrees Celsius. The water here is too deep to be affected by the weather above.
Black and scaled, an alien hangs suspended in the water column. Through the gloom, large bulbous green eyes stare blankly at a 90 degree angle above its head. Its vivid acid green eyes are not, however, the most startling thing about this animal. Meet the Barreleye fish, the silent and otherworldly creature that drifts alone through the midnight zone. Its transparent head is made up of a fluid filled sac revealing their inner eyes, brains, and organs. It is nicknamed the ‘spook-fish’, for its rather freakish appearance.
This fish is the only vertebrate that has developed ‘mirrors’ in their eyeballs. Its ‘invisible’ head allows much needed light to enter from all angles into its eyes which is essential for hunting in the dark. Its eyeballs can roll completely back, allowing it to look not only forwards, but vertically upwards through its see-through brains. The Barreleye is very good at digesting jellyfish, dueto its large digestive system. It is able to survive under such water pressure thanks to a special molecule called trimethylamine N oxide, contained in its cells. Nature has gifted this fish with incredibly unique and otherworldly features to help it survive in the hostile environment it calls home, far below the surface.
Another example of the miracle of nature can be found in the frosty confines of Alaska, spread out across the Arctic circle, where the Wood frog prepares for eight months of being frozen alive. Literally.
As the winter closes in, the land is blanketed in frozen, unforgiving ice, and the ground is locked into an eight-month winter slumber. This relentless wave of ice hits the frog, freezing up to 70% of the water in the frogs’ blood as temperatures plummet well below zero. Ice sucks precious water out of the frogs’ cells
However, the frog has a creative trick up his sleeve. Its liver starts pumping out excess glucose and urine, which, unlike most animals, is not excreted, but stored in the blood. This mix of substances creates a sort of ‘homemade’ antifreeze. Not enough to free the frog, but enough to allow its vital organs to retain enough moisture.
The wood frog spends the next eight months in a state of suspended animation, ice crystals locking its body in place. Eventually, its heart and lungs stop beating. The wood frog can survive for months with an impressive two thirds of its body completely frozen.
So, how does any of this relate to thinking outside of the box?
The animal kingdom has found unimaginably vast solutions for surviving in the extreme and often deadly conditions our world has to offer. Evolution has had to be smart and more importantly, spontaneous and creative when equipping these animals with the proper tools needed to survive. In that sense, thinking outside of the box is all about being creative, unconventional, and seeing things with a fresh perspective to adapt to the vast array of challenges one will be presented with in life.
Like the Wood frog or Barreleye fish, open minded people will thrive through frozen, steely winters and dark, frigid oceans, evolving and adapting to each new challenge with creative solutions, no matter how weird or different. Closed minded people will inevitably struggle under the inky blackness of the ocean and the endless winters of Alaska.
That is what we can learn through nature and evolution.
Thinking outside of the box is an important skill to learn to have. Not because we need to push through frozen winters or survive in pitch darkness, but because we are human, and in the world created today, complex challenges will inevitably arise, requiring original and unconventional ideas to solve them and progress and develop as people. Everyone has to potential to do this, but it requires practice and a willingness to grow in weird and wonderful ways that may not always be expected.