How to Be Bolder: Bananas, Water Slides, and Equations
How to Be Bolder: Bananas, Water Slides, and Equations
1. The Equation
George Bernard Dantzig, a college student, was late for class. When he saw on the chalkboard a mathematical equation, he thought it was an exercise for the day.
That was in 1939. No Wikipedia, internet, or chatGPT to solve the problems for you, mind you.
As Dantzig arrived late, he assumed they were a homework assignment. According to him, they “seemed to be a little harder than usual,” but a few days later he handed in completed solutions for both problems, still believing that they were overdue homework.
See, that was not homework. He had solved two of the most famous unsolved problems in statistics. He cracked them only because he didn’t know he “couldn’t” or he “wasn’t supposed to.”
📐𝞹📈
2. The Water Slide
Last summer I arrived a bit earlier at the water park. There were huge queues for the water slides, but unfortunately none in the bathroom. Anyways.
Before joining my company, I saw an empty waterslide and thought that was a great opportunity (which it was).
The lady asked me if I had ever done it before and was puzzled why I was so chill. A few seconds later, wet, excited, and almost flying, I had done my first slide for the day.
Returning to my friends, they asked me why I was wet. I explained where I had been (I didn’t catch the name of the slide).
“That... was the Kamikaze.”
It wasn’t exactly dreadful, but not a walk on the partk either. I don’t go to water parks often. My friends, who do, couldn’t believe why someone like me would go straight for the Kamikaze.
🌊
3. The Bananas Experiment
In a 1970s experiment, bananas were placed on top of a ladder. When one monkey climbed, all were sprayed with cold water. Soon, no one tried.
New monkeys were added one by one; the group stopped them violently, even without water. Eventually, all the originals were replaced, yet none touched the bananas, and none knew why.
The point? Cultural conditioning. People may never have been sprayed, but they’ll still stop themselves and everyone else from hunting their bananas — whatever bananas may be.
🍌
The Point? Expectations.
The mind will always make scenarios that ruin your overall experience, even if you actually do the thing.
When you are unprepared, like I was for the Kamikaze, you will have fun. You also might get in the air for a few seconds, but I don’t think this is a problem, to be honest.
Preparation matters, sure. But not at the cost of motion.
Life is a series of contradictions. You need to live with them.
On the one hand, you do need to be prepared for things. And the more and diverse things you do, the less prepared you need to be for the future.
But if you are a control freak trying to prevent all disasters, predict all hiccups, and be perfect from the start... you might as well not start anything. Or miss the fun of everything.
To be bolder, you need to understand what you can control, and what you can’t. And you need to do more of what makes you happy.
Joy will take you further. Pushing yourself to do/reach/earn X because of joy won’t work (the contradictions again).
FLOW
When you’re fully present — skills, focus, energy aligned — fear leaves the room.
That’s flow. That’s where joy awaits.
You need to get into your flow. Be there at 100%. You. Your skills. Your focus. Your mind. That’s the way to optimal experience. Flow.
Find your triggers.
Music, movement, coffee, breath. Whatever clears the fog. You name it. Start there. Then move.
And if you need to have a place to start, Flow Pantheon can help.
Until next time, thank you for reading.
Lifeward,
