I had to solve a physical problem the other day. I “knew” what the range of possibliities was, and failed repeatedly (note, this is different than the last such problem I mentioned a bit back). I persisted, and the problem was something that was not supposed to be possible. I had never heard of it happening to anyone, and only isolated it by removing every other possibility. “Once you eliminate the impossible, what remains–however improbable–must be the truth.”
So often we go through life thinking we know what the range of the possible is, when in reality the only means we have of testing such theories is to compare them to the general atmosphere around us, to see if anyone else shares our views. They always have roughly the same inputs you do, and if they reach different conclusions, that does not mean you were wrong. It is quite possible to be the only correct person in the room.
To my mind, this is the value of periodically considering various conspiracy theories. Sirhan Sirhan was brainwashed. The pyramids are 20,000 years old. The plains of Nazca were alien landing strips. Jack the Ripper was a freemason. Christ married and had children.
Quick progress in perception happens when you substitute a better paradigm than the old one. The practical effects of Newtonian physics and General Relativity are quite similar, but the nets that can be cast by taking the latter seriously are much wider. Why else would we have suspected light bent in gravitational fields, or that atomic energy was possible?
This basic premise operates equally in all areas of life. You can “reparadigmatize” people, cultures, or small physical problems right in front of you. If, as Einstein said, “imagation is more important than intelligence”, it is because it grants you the ability to see–through new eyes–what you have never seen before.