There’s a 2007 TED Talk with [J.J. Abrams][1] that you may have seen before. The subject of his talk was a mystery box. When J.J. Abrams was young he had a fascination with magic tricks. One day while visiting a local magic shop, he came across a box called “Tannen’s Mystery Magic Box” with a huge black question mark drawn on the side. The idea behind it was that you’d get $50 worth of unknown magic for $15. But Abrams never opened the mystery box and even after years of owning it, he couldn’t understand why he kept it or why he hadn’t opened it. Eventually, Abrams realized that he kept it because of what it represented to him. The mystery of the box itself symbolized infinite potential, hope, and creativity. He discovered that *mystery* is a “catalyst for imagination” and is a key ingredient and a driving force behind nearly everything he does. This distinction came about at a time when he began to believe that sometimes mystery is actually more important than knowledge. From there it was obvious that “mystery boxes” exist in many forms, especially in movies. From *Star Wars* to his television series *Lost* and to virtually every great story in existence. A blogger by the name of Blightdesign was so inspired by the story of Abram’s mystery box that he wanted to construct one himself. He used items he found around his house. [1]: http://www.ted.com/talks/j_j_abrams_mystery_box
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