Secret life of secrets
What is a secret. A secret is something that we know, which a lot of people don’t. It is traditionally taken as something you want to keep away from people. But it doesn’t have to be that. A secret can also be something that you really want to share with other people. Something that you have discovered which you absolutely cant wait to share. The other kind of secret might be referred to as an invention or a discovery in the conventional way of things. But whatever name it maybe given, it is just a secret. Secrets live in every aspect, every phase of our life. They also divide people into two kinds. Ones who believe in them, and the others who don’t.
People who don’t believe in secrets, believe that all answers in life are more or less known. What are the best professions to follow, whats the best moral virtue to hold to, which are the best books to read, etc etc. Everything is known and laid out. Why bother investigating when people before us, have it figured out. We should watch TV in the evening, cheer our favourite sports team on the sports channel, talk about how politicians have got it all wrong again, and enjoy the fruits of our days labour.
Then there is other kind. Those who believe that underneath the humdrum of life, there are secrets to be discovered. Its just not complete yet. There is something missing, something yet to be added. It might appear as if this exercise can only be done by scientists in the large hydron collider of CERN. That is just not true. The secret of secrets is …….. that they are woven into every aspect of our life. Is this the only path my career can take, or is there a more fulfilling trajectory out there … is a secret, waiting to be discovered. Recently, I was teaching percentages to my 4th grader nephew. He wanted to take x percent of something. The simple formula is x multiplied by something, divided by hundred. It was simple enough, and yet while doing the multiplication and counting the zeros, and dividing by hundred, kids (and very often adults) get it wrong !!!! I wanted him to have something simple. Something that he can check his answers against. I made a small secret key for him. Here is how the key went :
Secret Key :
10 percent of x = x/10 …(take a zero off, or move a decimal point by one)
1 percent of x = 10 percent of x/10… (take another zero off from 10%)
5 percent of x = 10 percent of x/2 …. (cut the 10% of x into half)
50 percent of x = x/2 …. (cut the number into half)
25 percent of x = 50 percent of x/2 …. (cut the half of number into half)
Armed with the key, here is how we would solve a percentage problem given by the workout shown in two image captures below.
At the outset it might look like a drag, until you realize, you can do these calculations quickly in the head, without any multiplication whatsoever. There are three steps to it. Split the number. Use the secret key to write percentages for individual components. Add everything together. With our little ‘secret’ key, we could be doing percentages in a way no other kid was in the school. Point here being to show, secret doesn’t have to be the discovery of the next subatomic particle. A slightly different way of looking at things, than you are used to, IS a secret.
A life of secrets is rewarding. Very very rewarding. You are in a world, with infinite possibilities. Everything, at every turn, is waiting to be discovered, and that discovery, waiting to be celebrated. (in case of new element of the periodic table, the whole scientific community celebrates. in the case of our little table, only our household celebrated the graduation of nephew to percentages). A life of secrets, is a life worth living. Worth loving.
Secrets, live, breathe, and function, under the very fabric of our everyday life. Our mundane tasks could be slightly more optimal, our children’s attention spans could be slightly more longer, our companies products could be slightly more appealing to customers, our essays could be slightly more crisper. Only, if I could discover, my next ‘Secret’ !!!
Be the other kind. The one who believes in secrets, and relishes the discovery of them.
PS. This article is inspired by a chapter in Peter Thiels zero-to-one and is written on the eve of my niece’s third birthday.
