A mushroom looms like a single entity. Like a tree. Like an animal. Like a man. But, in fact, what we see is just one fruiting body of a large fungal organism. An organism that can grow to cover miles. The largest organism we know of on earth. The fruit appears suddenly – almost randomly. An overnight success. But the organism has been growing and storing energy. It has been invisible but working hard. The fruit is simply a stage that is more visibly apparent. Like the fruit of the mushroom, our works are only the visible fruit of a hidden underlying network. Our accomplishments are derivatives of what is growing and what has been done. The overnight success is the results of years of movement and work in a focused direction. Our work and the work of those before us. I spend a lot of time and energy thinking a lot about a few
One of my favorite mental pastimes is reducing complex concepts into algorithms or metrics. One recent item I’ve been thinking about is how to measure maturity – specifically as related to the concept of child rearing & personal development. The topic is simple – there is a clear difference between a mature adult and a child. There is also a notable difference between adults; one that ‘really has it together’ and another that is ‘immature for their age’. The complex part is defining and measuring that in a consistent way. How would you quantify mature? How would you program a computer to recognize it? What is most interesting to me is to find a way measure maturity development and then use that measurement to set goals for how I raise my children. Benchmarks to help me see if I’m doing a good job introducing them to new challenges. Tools to facilitate conversations I