Loving keeping in touch with the world. Principal of a Catholic school in Bristol. Follow the Forest! Likes/retweets/follows do not constitute agreement.
This Two Ronnies sketch was never televised originally (it appeared many years later), but I’ve no idea why. It was written by Ronnie Barker, under the pseudonym Gerald Wiley, and for my money it gives Four Candles a run for it’s money. Seriously, if I’d written something this good I’d just retire immediately.
What a talent!
Good morning.
There's a physicist at Stanford named Safi Bahcall who modeled this exact principle and the math is wild.
He calls it "phase transitions in human networks." When you're stationary, your probability of a lucky event is limited to your existing surface area: the people you already know, the places you already go, the ideas you've already been exposed to. Your opportunity window is fixed.
When you move, your collision rate with new nodes in a network increases nonlinearly. Double your movement (new conversations, new cities, new projects) and your probability of a serendipitous encounter doesn't double. It roughly quadruples. Because each new node connects you to their entire network, not just to them.
Richard Wiseman ran a 10-year study at the University of Hertfordshire tracking self-described "lucky" and "unlucky" people. The single biggest differentiator wasn't IQ, education, or family money. Lucky people scored significantly higher on one trait: openness to experience. They talked to strangers more, varied their routines more, and said yes to invitations at nearly twice the rate.
The "unlucky" group followed the same routes, ate at the same restaurants, and talked to the same 5 people. Their networks were closed loops. No new inputs, no new collisions.
Luck isn't random. Luck is surface area. And surface area is a function of movement.
The lobster emoji is doing more work than most people realize. Lobsters grow by shedding their shell when it gets too tight. The growth requires a period of total vulnerability. No protection, no armor, soft body exposed to the ocean.
That's the cost of movement nobody posts about. You have to be uncomfortable first. The new shell only hardens after you've already moved.
Trying again to become part of the @ASCL_UK council representing the South West. If a member I would really appreciate your vote. I will represent your voice with passion!
@MrDavidScales@JonHaidt Really interested in doing something like this. How will you logistically collect phones. Tutors? Central drop off? Lockers around the site?
Monday saw us at the Secondary School Netball Finals!
It was a fantastic day. We saw some great play and determination from all players as well as being played in good spirit throughout. Congratulations to all of the winners!
A great afternoon with Bristol North West’s very own @Olympics silver medalist, Izzy Thorpe, at @STB_Bristol.
We spoke about how she became a synchronised swimmer, what you can learn from failure and what it was like in Paris.
An inspiration to lots of us!