Puzzles, Pebbles as Pixels, Hope Molecules, and More
Friday, February 2, 2024
Happy Friday everyone!
Here are 10 things I found interesting from the last week or so.
Puzzles
To start this week’s newsletter, I’d like to share something I learned from Malcolm Gladwell’s Masterclass on writing and how it relates to warm-ups.
The first thing he discusses is puzzles. They have a hold over our imagination. We’re hardwired to make them fit together. We crave it. We love it when all of the pieces of a story fit together nicely. It feels nice, warm, and safe, making us feel like the world makes sense. So, it’s ironic when one of the greatest non-fiction writers in the last few decades tells you: don’t complete the puzzle.
He argues that the best kind of arguments are imperfect. Why? Perfect is too obvious and thus boring. The reader glosses over your perfect analogy, saying to themselves in their head, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it. That fits with that.. sigh..” Gladwell instead encourages writers to use imperfect arguments. Again, why? Imperfection draws you in. The reader now stops at the corner of your imperfect analogy, saying to themselves in their head, “Yeah, yeah, wait.. huh.. how is that... Wait, could that mean…” Now you’re engaged in the material. Now you’re thinking, “Mmmm, how will the writer tie in X and Y and somehow Z in the final analysis..” Now, you want to know more. You NEED to see how this puzzle fits or if it does at all.
Don’t aim for perfection. People don’t even want perfection! Perfection is boring. Imperfection is interesting. You don’t spend time with the people you do because they are perfect. You spend time with them because you enjoy their company. They are interesting to you. They are imperfect, and that makes them awesome.
You’re probably thinking that is totally counterintuitive, and you might have a point. But Gladwell’s point makes me think of sports, particularly warm-ups. Let’s look at basketball, for example (other sports like football or baseball work, too, but let’s stick with basketball for now).
Could you imagine if you went to a basketball game and everyone made every shot? That’s not a game. Players make some shots. Players miss some shots. Players make some great passes. Players make some bad turnovers. That’s all part of the game.
But, do you ever notice broadcasts don’t air the team’s warm-ups?
If you watch an NBA broadcast, for example, there's usually either a reporter standing at the baseline with their back to the court, or you’ll have a row of analysts seated at mid-court, and just above their heads, you’ll see the basket in the distance. It’s then you realize how good these guys actually are. Watch. Next time you see a basketball game, look at the team warming up in the background while the analysts share their predictions in the foreground. You’ll notice THESE DUDES DON’T MISS. And thus, we don’t notice because we don’t care. We want the game. We want the action. We want the imperfection. We want to be on the edge of our seats when the ball is heaved in the air while the buzzer goes off, and our identity as sports fans hangs in the balance. We’re dying to see if they make it. We’re dying to see if all of the puzzle pieces will fit together in the end. Make or miss, is the puzzle complete? Of course not. There’s always the next quarter, the next game, the next season, etc. The puzzle never quite ends. And that is one of the reasons we can’t stop watching.
Not completing a puzzle will mildly bother your reader. Gladwell teaches that is OK. It creates an aftertaste, which he says is what you want.
The aftertaste, the conversations after reading a book or watching the game, we live for them. We live for the moment, seeing our friends angry their favorite player missed that layup while we ride the high of our team getting the win.
Do basketball players make every one of their shots some nights? Sure.
Do pitchers throw perfect games? Sure.
Do quarterbacks earn perfect passer ratings? Sure.
But do those perfect outings leave the same aftertaste behind that a close game does? Not really. We want to see players walk the line. It frustrates us but also intrigues us. I think what Gladwell is getting at is the best writers do, too.
Belonging
Wisdom from F. Scott Fitzgerald:
“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
Discipline, Challenges, and Love
A reminder from Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday:
“Discipline is not a punishment, it’s a way to avoid punishment. We do it because we love ourselves, we value ourselves and what we do.”
Challenging yourself is good. I love a good challenge. But I’ve come to realize, as Holiday points out, challenging yourself to do something new or disciplining yourself to keep doing the same old things needs to come from a place of love, not a place of lack. If it’s the latter and not the former, no challenge, no achievement, no nothing will ever make you value yourself. Again, it’s good to challenge yourself; just don’t forget to love yourself too.
Woe vs Whoa
Note to Self: It’s not woe is me. It’s whoa, it’s me. Distressed? Worried? Angry? Etc. Etc. Etc. It’s not the external. It’s the internal. Wherever you go, there you are. Look within. Look within. Look within. All is there.
The Jersey Nation
This page transforms jersey concepts. I like what they did for Vietnam.
Pebbles as Pixels
Check this out on Instagram. Even Picasso himself would be impressed!
Jared Henderson on YouTube
A new YouTube channel I found recently I liked. I was looking into philosophical novels and Henderson has a good video on them, as well as, others on which philosophy books to check out (Note: he has a PhD on the subject, too).
How Creativity Will Save You
An enlightening video from the wisdom of Carl Jung on creativity: if you don’t create what is inside of you, it will destroy you from the inside out. There is no escaping from it. There is only escaping to it.
Hope Molecules
I saw a video this week by author Kelly McGonigal where she shared what she thought was the most interesting finding of the last decade in all of science: your muscles are an endocrine organ. Contracting your muscles releases what scientists called “hope molecules,” or myokines that act as an antidepressant. In other words, exercise, in whatever form, literally gives you hope. Wow.
What If
To end this week’s newsletter, I’d like to share a final video featuring a series of questions, the main one being: What if somebody reads it?
Thank you for reading. Enjoy the weekend and see you next Friday!
—Garrett
P.S. “and More”
To read through The Ca Phe Chronicle archive, click here.
If you liked this week’s newsletter, click share at the top ⬆️
If someone sent you this, click subscribe below ⬇️