The Candle Problem

In 1945, Carl Duncker created a research project, where he gave participants a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches, and asked them to attach the candle to the wall so that it did not drip onto the table below. Duncker found that participants tried to attach the candle directly to the wall with the tacks, or to glue it to the wall by melting it. Few thought of using the inside of the box as a candleholder.

But, more recently, researchers added a twist to Dunker’s theory. They split the test subjects into two groups. One half was simply asked to complete the task with no reward and the other half was told the person who finished first, would win a cash prize. Over and over again, the team with the reward, with the carrot if you will - failed miserably. Taking on average three and a half minutes longer to complete the task.

Then researchers added another twist. They took the tacks out of the box and simply left the empty tack box alongside the matches, candle, and tacks. The solution was now obvious and both teams found the solution much quicker - but this time, the incentivized team won, over and over again.

The conclusion was that the incentivised participants were “fixated” on the box’s normal function of holding thumbtacks and could not re-conceptualize it in a manner that allowed them to solve the problem. The prize actually narrowed the participant’s focus. The cash prize somehow prohibited them from thinking outside the box - or inside the box in this situation. On the other hand, if you have a narrow goal and vision – rewards work.

This situation caused me to think about the Christian spirituality. It seems that the Christianity has often been reduced to a narrow view of reward and punishment. Follow the right set of rules and you'll receive the reward of heaven. Disobey the rules and well....you know what happens.

I still remember my first youth revival I preached. I preached my heart out to nearly 300 teens. But, at the end, I said, "My goal is not to keep you out of hell, although I don't want any of you to spend eternity apart from God, but my goal is to help you experience a relationship with a God who loves and cares for you deeply." I finished and almost immediately, a local youth worker jumped to the microphone to make sure the children knew about hell and eternal damnation.

Like the participants fixated on the financial reward, a narrow Christian walk does well when incentivised by reward (and punishment), but if you choose the narrow view of Christianity, you will miss the fullness of God's grace, love and majesty. You will fail to notice God in unusual places and unusual people. In your fixation upon the "reward", you will miss the full life that God has for you.

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