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The Making of a Dumb Datum

Imagine 10,000 years in the future. Two archaeologists are digging a site, and they find the remains of human bones. They take those remains to the lab, perform tests on them, and try to reconstruct the habits and lifestyle of that human. Say those bones belong to me. They are trying to find out my story, how I lived, what I ate, where I traveled, etc. Once they find all the info they need, they toss it into a museum where they store all other such ancient human remains they find. I was essentially one data point to them in trying to understand how humanity evolved over time. Or I can also call myself a “datum”, the singular form of data, literally one piece of information to solve a bigger puzzle. Honestly, I don’t need 10,000 years to become a datum. I am already a part of several datasets people use these days to study many things. So for that objective learner, I am already a datum. Now let me get to how I got the dumb part of it. I have had an interesting and eventful life so far...
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Instrument

I stumbled upon a good insight today during my run. It happened because I had a mild strain in my hamstring last Friday, the kind which would have usually sent me into an anxious meltdown. But I succeeded in applying the rational logic that I have had niggles like this before, and based on my past experiences, all I need is a day’s rest to recover from this. It worked like a charm because I was able to run 38 miles in last 4 days and I don’t feel very bad today. That made me think of these things:

1.     My legs are just one instrument I use for running.

2.     They give me feedback in the form of pain, but not every pain is significant.

This is still a very basic insight, but I had a lightbulb moment when I applied the same logic to my brain.

1.     My brain is just one instrument I use to live.

2.     It always gives me feedback with positive and negative thoughts, but not every thought is significant or useful.

It seems to me that the key to a good life lies in me learning which pain and thoughts I can ignore, and which pain and thoughts I should pay attention to. I am not going to be perfect at applying this insight, but that’s okay. Even the pursuit of perfection is a thought which is not always useful.  


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