SPINLAB @ MSU

This book is a collection of narratives on the act of creation, but this description does not really do the book justice. It contains a broader perspective on the process of performing challenging tasks through the lens of Art loosely defined. The themes include:

• pursuit of mastery (intrinsic – bandwidth is mostly reserved for process) in contrast to the pursuit of perfection (extrinsic – bandwidth is allocated to both process and reputation management)
  • pursuing excellence in obscurity because one’s own internal standards for what is “good enough” are sufficiently high that external validation for being “perfect” becomes irrelevant and avoids the emotional overhead/barriers associated with unnecessarily unrealistic and unattainable “goals”
  • “…the joy of a skilled craftsman in a job well done.” – Freeman Dyson
  • requires an Apprenticeship Phase, see this six-part guide by Tim Ferriss and Robert Greene
• the advantages of failure
  • nothing works on the first attempt – at least no experiment that I’ve ever been involved in
  • the plan should include making multiple attempts with the explicit goal to learn from each attempt
• labor vs. work
  • “Work is what we do by the hour but labor sets its own pace.” – Lewis Hyde
  • work = being a bus-driver, labor = being a parent
  • that is why raising a child is a “labor of love”
  • think about when you can “turn off” being a parent vs. “turning off” being a bus-driver
  • alternatively, when is each of these roles “done” or “finished”?
• Parents vs. Bus-drivers
  • being a parent is not optional and you feel compelled to do it ; you can quit being a bus-driver when something better comes along or for no reason at all
  • being a parent is a lifetime commitment ; being a bus-driver is just a job which hopefully at least pays the bills
  • there is a new challenge every day as a parent which requires quickly learning an unfamiliar skill set on the fly ; a bus-driver just needs a valid driver’s license and possibly corrective eyewear and is the same routine every day
  • being a parent is always in the background ; being a bus-driver starts at the beginning of the shift and ends at the end of the shift
  • being a parent requires adaptability as the goal posts can shift unexpectedly from day to day ; a bus-driver can mostly follow a standard set of directions
  • the bare minimum as a parent is already a high bar and takes concerted effort ; the bare minimum for a bus driver is always enough
  • for a parent, the job is done when the problem is solved ; for a bus-driver, the job is done when the shift is over
  • a parent is deeply satisfied by a job well done ; a bus-driver looks forward to the end of their shift
  • parents make the best of imperfect opportunities ; bus-drivers waste them if they are not a perfect fit
  • parents show up and find ways to be useful right away ; bus-drivers wait to be told what to do
  • being a parent is a privilege that is earned ; being a bus-driver is just a job
  • a parent must tolerate imperfection because tomorrow is new challenge ; a bus-driver obsesses over keeping to schedules imposed on them without their input under threat of unemployment
  • to paraphrase Mike Tomlin, parents act like volunteers whereas bus-drivers act like hostages
  • for a parent, interest and joy can sustains the process and grows with the process ; for bus-driver, interest and joy, if any, depends on external factors
  • people are often parents as it relates to their hobbies, while they are bus-drivers as it relates to perceived rote mechanical tasks – it is unrealistic to be a parent about everything but, even so, being a parent does tend to bleed and leak into to all the things (probably super unhealthy)
  • being a parent or a bus-driver is a matter of perspective and ultimately a choice that one makes but usually a parent needs to convince themselves to be a bus-driver more to conserve bandwidth whereas a significant intervention is required to transform a bus-driver into a parent
• near wins as motivation
• knowing how and when to ignore critique – developing a personal taste in the aesthetic sense
• the need for deadlines – “To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.” – Leonard Bernstein
• deliberate play as an amateur
  • Einstellung Effect – “…the cost of success is that it can block our ability to see when what has worked well in the past might not any longer….” – SL
  • “Random Walk to Graphene” by Andre Geim – Nobel Lecture 2010
• using surrender to conserve limited precious energy by not resisting external factors outside of our direct control (see related concept of Amor Fati and some of the central themes of Stoicism)
• having a vision as a prerequisite for moving towards a grand goal (see the concept of Aesthetic Force by Frederick Douglass
  • start with pictures not words
  • or equivalently “elevated language” and then “rational persuasion” – Longinus
  • or motivate the elephant first and then guide the rider…

This book is now required reading for any prospective graduate student interested in joining Spinlab so that they can better understand the philosophical framework behind my expectations for a scientist-in-training. FYI: it took me less than 4 hours to read in one sitting while taking handwritten notes.

Note that two things can be true at once.

See also Anne Lamott’s perspective on perfectionism from her classic book on writing Bird by Bird below:

See also “The Maker Movement Manifesto” (short version) at the beginning of the book by Mark Hatch also called The Maker Movement Manifesto: