I'm Possible

A few weeks ago I was at a talk by Ryan W. Quinn on the subject of his new book: “Lift”. During the presentation he said something which reflected my reason for creating this site: ” We assume things are impossible more often than they actually are.” The result of this is that we start solving problems with implied constraints which may not actually be real.

A prime example of this, for me, is vision. I have been nearsighted for over 15 years. I always assumed that myopia, like eye colour, was genetically per-determined. However when I stopped, asked the question, and did some research into the topic, I found no evidence to back this up. In fact, I found ample evidence suggesting that environmental factors play a very influential role. Because I didn’t think it was possible for eyesight to correct itself I never looked for a way to accomplish this; I just jumped right to solving the problem by getting corrective lenses. But now that I realize the constraints I placed on my eyesight are not real it presents me with the new alternative of correcting my vision without the use of surgery.

So this is my big magician’s secret: I am not actually doing anything impossible, I’m just questioning the limits of what the society I grew up in believes is impossible. Not terribly romantic I know, but the results are pretty cool and they make for a good conversation.