Chris Pearlberg

*Roughly speaking*, things are they way they are for a reason. It may be for a very bad reason, but a reason nonetheless. There are so many things we encounter on a daily basis that were the culmination of many brains thinking of the same problems, for a very very long time. Music as a language is a great example of the hive mind working; rules and boundaries created that don’t necessarily come from one authority from on high.

Though it may take way more time and effort, if you encounter something that doesn’t make sense to you right away, maybe consider why that is. Why would someone else make this decision? Why would a ton of people do it this way? Can I see it from their perspective? Why isn’t this thing valued the same way anymore?

Things will probably not be the exact way you want them to be right out of the box, but that would be boring if it were real life. Investigate why, consider if it works, use that information (“useless” information is still useful), don’t settle for short cut answers, and continue the journey.