Greg's Right FIT #388

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Games 
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Games

• Trompe l'oeil is a French term meaning fool-the-eye. It's used in art, but it applies to the game of experts "faking it 'til they make it." Are they a bestseller? Does their keynote wow a crowd? Are they rich and famous? Does it matter if they help you get a result or fix a problem? Focus on that. 
• The ability to discern real from fake is a power, but is becoming a superpower. My father said, "Don't believe what you hear and half of what you see." Extreme skepticism, for sure, but useful in doses. Again, focus on outcomes.
• Anticipation is an advantage. For example the buyer tells the seller "it's not working." Anticipation of this future event lets both parties get ahead of it. Say, "we know this will be great, but sometimes things go wrong. Has that ever happened to you? Let's talk about what we'll do if things get off track."
• A conversation game you can play next week is "keep them talking." It works by repeating the last few words said to you in the form of a question. It keeps them talking. They say, "I'm tired today." You say, ". . .today?" Without missing a beat, they'll continue talking. It can go on for a long time. Try it. 

Being Human - No words

"Our perceptions work in large part by expectation. It takes less cognitive effort to make sense of the world using preconceived images updated with a small amount of new sensory information than to constantly form entirely new perceptions from scratch." 
– Merlin Sheldrake "Entangled Life"

I am working through the end notes of a crazy good book, "Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures." The author describes the enormous world of Fungi, exposing how little we know about it. One of the challenges, he tells us, is the language we use. While we have a strong classification system for animals and plants, fungi doesn't fit. It takes on multiple forms and many species have no discernable characteristics. Our words for describing plants and animals fall far short when it comes to fungi. 

It's heady stuff, this world of fungi. Largely out of sight, but part of everything. The headiness is most evident when it comes to symbiosis, the interaction of two different organisms. A full chapter is dedicated to trying to describe lichens, the combination of fungi and algae. We really don't have good metaphors for how they work together. Slave and master? Dominant and submissive? We only invented the term symbiosis in the late 19th century, and it still doesn't quite describe the relationship.

My favorite part is his description of the "drunken monkey hypothesis." Long before our ancestors became human we developed the ability to ingest small quantities of alcohol without it poisoning us. Is it possible modern society was formed because of yeasts producing alcohol? Many ancient rituals are built around fermentation an intoxification (see "Ritual" by Dimitris Xygalatas) giving rise to the thought that fungi not only break down the world, they have a hand in building it too. Composers make, decomposers unmake. Which comes first? 

Mind-expanding stuff. 

Random Stuff

"The more I garden the less I know, but the more pleasure I get from it.” – Monty Don

I just took a peek at my lemon tree. It's time for a gardening update. How is Greg doing at commanding and controlling his environment? 

Meh.

If you remember, at one point my lemon tree has seven lemons forming. Two are left. I have no idea why the others gave up, but it looks like I'll get one real lemon before long. This summer we're going with our regular mix of tomatoes, peppers, peaches, and apples, but we've mixed in some earlier crops.

Early crops are coming from the plants we started from seed in Feb/Mar. Out of everything we tried, the lettuce is a winner. We harvested enough for a few salads and I can report it tastes like. . .lettuce. I am filled with a sense of wonder when this happens. We try to grow something, it grows, and I eat it without poisoning myself. Amazing. It gives me hope that I can survive in a wasteland, if only for a little while. 

I get the same feeling when I fix a mechanical something. Like a broken lawn sprinkler. I looked at the lawn this morning and felt elated when I saw the broken sprinkler area soaking wet. I try to relay my pride to my lovely bride, regaling her with my accomplishment. 

"That's good," she says, not looking up from her crossword.

I can tell she doesn't feel the same way I do. It's lip service. 

I vow to remember this transgression when the apocalypse comes. She'll learn a lesson when I don't share my lemon.