Lighting up an infinity of wonders
One day about 400 years ago, a telescope emerged. Human beings suddenly realised that by placing two lenses at the right distance apart, we could see much further away. Before this deceptively simple discovery, humans could only observe the few thousands stars visible to the naked eyes. But since then, a whole universe of possibilities have opened up. Today, we’ve realised that our sun is only one of the 200+ billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy. That’s just one single galaxy. There are perhaps 2 trillion galaxies in the Universe.
Hubble Ultra Deep Field
During my teenage years in New Zealand, I had 2 career possibilities in mind. There was medicine. And there was everything else. Medicine was what the majority of Taiwanese immigrants desired. It’s high status, secure, and accessible with diligence. So, presumably great for easing the feeling of insecurity as an outsider in a foreign culture.
I got in. But something just didn’t feel right - I’ve never felt turned on with memorising procedures and anatomy. So, I turned down the offer, even though I didn’t have an alternative plan, other than continuing to explore what might interest me. At that time, my decision didn’t appear sensible to most people I knew, or even myself. It seemed like I walked way from a coveted, respected opportunity on a whim.
What happened next I could have never predicted. Following a vague sense of curiosity, somehow possibilities have opened up. And in the following years, I’ve experienced interesting jobs I could never have imagined, as an option trader, as a neuroscientist and as an astronomy guide. Was I lucky? Certainly, for meeting the right people at the right time. But is serendipity increasingly likely in our interconnected world?
Our human minds are optimized for dealing with certain information. We don’t really see what’s out there. Instead, we only perceive a tiny fragment of reality. For example, snakes are far superior in seeing infrared light, whereas our human visual system has evolved to appreciate rainbow colours.
Our mindsets are like lenses. They filter how we see the world. But with an inappropriate mindset, we don’t see what’s possible. Here is an example:
It’s not unusual if you can’t find anything. However, many people in the West can see a Dalmatian dog.
Now that I’ve mentioned it, can you see the dog?
How about now?
Now, once you’ve seen the pattern, it’s easier to see the dog again. Things are obvious in hindsight.
Let’s try again below.
But apparently, to some people from Africa, it’s a hyena.
The more life I’ve witnessed, the more I feel that life is full of possibilities, waiting to be discovered. But the possibilities only become visible, when our mindsets, the lenses through which we observe the world, are aligned at the right dimensions.
When that happens, it feels like magic. And I wish to experience it again and again.