14 - Serendipity
Recently, I've been thinking about why people read horoscopes, go to fortune tellers, incessantly focus on their MBTI (I'm an ENFJ, what are you?), read tea leaves, believe in tarot...all of that jazz. It's come up a few times in conversation and has got me BUZZIN' with thoughts to share.
Look, I don't know if they are true, and I don't know if anyone can prove that they're true, but...I don't believe they are as true as people think they are. I'm open to it but more likely than not, they are all prime examples of the Barnum Effect...which is also some sort of confirmation bias that we are all prone to.
But that doesn't mean it's not meaningful to the person themselves. I'll still talk to mum about what my zodiac says for the year as she fervently tells me what my year will hold, and follow some of the advice (I mean, some of it's just practical. You'll have a 'blood crisis', which can be avoided by getting a blood test (?!). That's just good sense!) - and people believe it helps them a lot.
And let me tell you, props to the guy who writes those things. In my 18th and 21st years of life, the book said (and I'm paraphrasing here) 'you gotta throw a BIG party to celebrate - it's written in the stars'.
THE STARSS.
Incredible.
Anyway. This belief in something other, and greater, than oneself helps to build an emotional buffer for your life - a way to depend on something external to you to that helps to relieve the burden of what you're feeling. We humans are always seeking a way to find meaning in our lives and decipher the unknown; these techniques (?) help us feel better about it regardless of whether they're actually true or not.
But more than that, I think there's a related reason why people spend so much time on these things...
Serendipity (n.) - the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way
A pet theory of mine is that, in addition to purpose, people seek serendipity - the random happenstances of the world. These random happenings give us something to think about, something to look forward to, or something to talk about, and it sort of...bumps us out of our daily routines. Every day, we're overwhelmed with a variety of different stimuli (sounds, sights, smells - and of course, reddit).
It takes a lot of processing power to work through these, and by the time we're home a lot of us will find it hard to muster the will-power to do things.
These sorts of things allow us to bring different things up that we don't often think about, and help us look for new, different things (sort of like the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. Being reminded about something (i.e. spend more time with your friends, money is coming your way, a dark-haired man will cause conflict with you, mercury is in retrograde etc.) puts our attention towards something else that may jolt us out of our routine lives, or give us a way to explain the world in a way outside of ourselves. Which then proves out what you were told about, thus completing the cycle of prediction.
I remember watching this series with Lawrence Leung - Unbelievable, which, amongst other things, broke down 'hot and cold' reading. It was awesome because it also had a bunch of magic things, and I love watching magic. There's just something about being fooled by your senses that is just so...interesting!
Now again, just to reiterate, I don't think I can prove that this is the case, and I don't think anyone can prove that these things do or don't work - whatever works for you! Emotional buffers are there for a reason :)
Thoughts? Feelings? Comments? I guarantee some of y'all are gonna hate this - please @ me if so!
Chat soon :)
✔️ Real Life Recommendations
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The Culture Code - a great, relatively short and engaging read about the important parts of building a team and culture. Very work-related, but is probably applicable to anyone who is leading or building a team. The stories help to paint a much richer picture of how one might apply these principles!
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Telestrations - if you're looking for a party game (6+ people) you can't go past Telestrations! It's essentially Chinese whispers but with drawing. It is EXCELLENT. Highly recommended. I don't have my own copy but I'm hunting for the 12 player pack!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Toilet paper startups?! - a brief article on the new wave of artisanal toilet paper startups that are entering the scene. Sustainability, branding - it all adds up!
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Chinese dormant twitter accounts - another great nytimes visualisation of twitter accounts that are pro-government. Makes sense from a Chinese govt point of view to control the conversation any way you can! As an aside, it sounds more like they were set up somewhere, and sold to the highest bidder?
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A rant on interaction design - a passionate piece about where interaction design is going - where's the tactility? Where are the different ways to interact with the digital world that aren't just prodding at a screen? Very interesting thoughts!