Find Your Own Lessons

I’ve found that almost every time you look for something interesting, you will find it.

There have been moments where I have reflexively dismissed something without even shifting my full attention to it. A pop song on the radio would be a simple example, but it could also be something like a blog post on a topic I feel well-versed in. It is that feeling you get when you overhear a stranger talking about your favorite book or film, and doing so poorly. The instinct is to be dismissive, arrogant, or condescending.

On one level, I understand the impulse in myself to immediately make a determination about what something can offer me. This “triaging of vibes” is a useful tool for not wasting time, but it is clearly limiting too. Lately I’ve been thinking about the playful and rewarding game of “finding your own lessons.” In this “game”, you try to find one thing in something you are dismissive or otherwise unappreciative of that is valuable, noteworthy, or new to you.

Let’s go back to the pop song example. Picture you are in the car and your least favorite “pop musician’s” latest single comes on. Your instinct is to turn it off or maybe mock it line by line. Before you do though, listen for something worthwhile or interesting. Listen to the bass line, listen to the rhymes being used, listen for some production trick being employed. What key is it in? Can you guess? What is the chord progression? Does this fit into the current trends of pop music, or does it seem like a new wave is happening here? Can you hear any general genre influences in the song, or particular artist influences?

I’ve realized that you can do this kind of thing with anything. And I’ve found that almost every time you look for something interesting, you will find it.

I’ve been thinking that the ability to find usefulness, novelty, or joy in things is one meaningful measure of intelligence. Or maybe happiness? The inability to do this certainly makes for bad company. We have all known people who are tragically temperamental, those folks who have opinions that are like icicles, sharp but fragile. Their opinions about what is good and what is bad have such a hold on them that they will storm out of movies they aren’t impressed by. Or the dude who can’t even play with children for a half-hour because he gets bored immediately.

You have to find your own lessons in things.

• Wow, isn’t it interesting how people newer to AI research always think x is true. I wonder why that may be?

• Oh, people who enjoy Heavy Metal music all seem to cite these characteristics when I ask them why they like it. Are there any genres I like that share those characteristics?

• You love the book I despised reading. Is the reason you love it the same reason I hated it, or did we get different things from it? What did I miss?

• and so on….

This curious and humble approach to life makes everything more interesting and will lead you down unexplored paths of thought.

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Thanks to Emmett for encouraging shorter posts!

Thanks to Tessa for discussing this with me and helping shape the idea!