There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
—William Shakespeare
This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective and how changing it can quickly change your life.
Anything—an object, a person, or even the current circumstances of your life—can be viewed so differently based on how you look at it and the current information at hand. Sounds kind of out there? Let’s try an example.
Imagine there was an old MacBook sitting on a desk and I asked you to guess the value of it—how much do you think you could sell it for? Assume I gave you all the details you wanted to make the best estimation on price and I even let you look up comparable models online. After all this work, it’s safe to say that you would be confident in your price range, yes?
Now imagine I told you that J.K. Rowling used that laptop to write her first Harry Potter novel and I have all the evidence to properly convince you. Your price estimate would drastically change, right? I bet it would.
Even though the laptop is physically and functionally identical to the one you were examining before, something about it has changed. It’s no longer the same laptop, it has a story and that story has changed its value.
In this week’s post, I wanted to share 3 different examples of perspective. The first one’s about branding, the second one about gaining confidence, and the final one is a parable that I love because it changes how I think about “misfortune.”
Patagonia toothfish → Chilean sea bass ✅
Did you know that Chilean sea bass was originally called Patagonia toothfish?
Fish wholesaler Lee Lantz invented the name back in 1977 after considering alternative names like “Pacific sea bass” and “South American sea bass.” This practice is actually common with fish and seafood because agricultural names just don’t sell as well. If you’re at a fancy restaurant, which would you rather spend $30 on, “Chilean sea bass” or “Patagonian toothfish?”
Other examples:
Pigs in a blanket are just hotdogs wrapped in dough
A chicken drumstick is technically the chicken’s calf
Chicken Florentine can also be called chicken with spinach
Fake it till you make it.
On Marc Maron’s 1500th episode, actor Paul Giamatti describes an interesting self-observation he made about appearing on talk shows:
And I watch myself sometimes on a talk show and I go.
I don't believe that guy at all.
And then I'll see myself in a movie, and I'll go, oh, I believe that.
That's weird.
That's not right.
I shouldn't believe myself playing a character more than I believe myself just being me.
Paul’s describing how he struggles to act authentically when he needs to be himself in front of a live studio audience. On the other hand, if he’s given a script for a character, he believes more the authenticity of him as that character. Marc later suggests that Paul as a character is fulfilling an expectation set by some authority figure like a segment producer. Paul can act without second guessing who he’s supposed to be because someone else has convinced him that the story he’s living out will land big.
To me, it sounds like Paul doesn’t know if being himself on a talk show will be entertaining enough for audiences. So, to compensate, he builds up elaborate stories and ultimately becomes a fake version of himself in the hopes of making a good appearance—which ultimately makes him feel awkward and uncomfortable.
I think this is where perspective could be helpful. Maybe this is why many successful people quote visualization exercises as something they regularly practiced before they achieved great things.
If Paul simply envisioned getting advice from an imaginary segment producer, suggesting that just being himself would lead to great success in his talk show segment, he could relax and confidently be himself on camera. Alternatively, if he took real stories from his life and rehearsed it like he was rehearing for a part in a movie, maybe that would make him feel more comfortable when he steps on stage. In other words, see the talk show appearance like acting in a movie. Change perspective to make things easier.
The old man lost his horse (a Chinese parable)
Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.”
The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”
The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.”
The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”
—Alan Watts retelling the old Chinese parable.
“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
Good Beats
Love this entire album. Great late-evening driving music. Also added it because the title song fits the post 😄)
From Mariusz Goli’s bio:
This street artist can be seen performing in European cities. Busking is his way of life. Street concerts give Mariusz the biggest satisfaction, he loves direct contact with his public. His music can be heard as well in clubs. He loves to improvise. In his creations he tries to cover elements of flamenco as well as all sorts of folk music.
The entire album is free to download too if you dig it.
A 50¢ word (aka words that say a lot with less)
Fiat: A formal authorization or proposition; a decree.
Fiat money, a.k.a the $20 bill in your pocket, has no intrinsic value. However, we as a collective society have assigned it value through a shared trust that it can be exchanged for goods, services, or debt repayment.
But money wasn’t always in paper form. Shells were once considered valid currency by global merchants. Ancient China used hand-shovel shaped coins because plain coins were too unfamiliar. The value of tulip bulbs (yes, the flower) jumped to extraordinary levels in 17th century Netherlands. “Tulip mania” accelerated in 1634 and abruptly crashed 3 years later.
For Your Thoughts
A change of perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
—Alan Kay, pioneer of graphical user interface design
When you’re stuck on a problem or have trouble getting over something, consider changing your perspective. Things aren't always what they seem.
Yours,
-Rahul
P.S. a reminder you can reply directly to oldmanrahul@substack.com, or you can tweet me @oldmanrahul about this edition. Thanks for reading and supporting my writing :)