3 Things I Learned from Pirate Hunters

Robert Kurson’s Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship is awesome. Stop reading this and go buy it. While you’re there get Shadow Divers too. Both are fantastic.

Pirate Hunters is the story about the search for a sunken pirate ship (only 1 had ever previously been found) and the people behind it. The book treads in the waters of diplomacy, investigation, and history. It’s full of so many great ideas, but here are 3 things I learned.

1. “Stories are the next best thing to gold.”

So much of history involves digging through stories and for good reason — stories tell us so much. Malcolm Gladwell spoke to this idea, but even a simpleton like me can explain it, there’s more to an answer than data.

If data were all that mattered we wouldn’t have art museums — we would have spreadsheets.

This is an example of what Garrett Hardin calls the “literate filter.” Hardin writes that we need to understand things both in the numerate, ecolate and literate. The numerate is the numbers, the ecolate is the consequences over time, and the literate is the sense it makes to us as people.

When the pirate hunters were searching for the sunken ship they used all three of these tools for thinking. Even though now we have access to numbers like never before, we shouldn’t use them for the sake of using them. We can wield the data, but we should never forget about the stories.

2. Research > Knowledge.

All the information the pirate hunters needed existed. There wasn’t a new radiological discover, carbon dating technique, or aerial reconnaissance technology that improved what they did.

Positive changes came when the crew pieced together existing ideas.

Solving the problem of where a sunken pirate ship might be is the same as solving a problem about anything in life — the solution’s pieces are often somewhere out there.

I see this when my daughters and I play Legos together. Somewhere in our Lego piles hides the piece that they need, they just need to find it. And it goes way beyond children’s toys.

Charlie Munger speaks to this idea through the proxy of reading. Munger (and Buffett) read so to find the right bits that unlock a problem. Whether it’s about a sunken pirate ship, a missing Lego piece, or a company to invest in, if we can do the research we can solve the problem.

3. Pirates were consistent.

The first part of being a successful pirate is the same as the first part of being a successful investor — don’t blow up.

Pirates lived a dangerous life and it was important for them to minimize any negotiable danger. They did this by being consistent in domains they could control.

• When it came time to chase down a ship they would demand it surrender. If it did, the pirates often led the passengers go. If it didn’t, they did not. Consistency in how they pursued their prey.
• When it came time to divide the spoils, the pirates would divide them equally. When it was time to decide on what to do, each pirate had a single vote. Consistency in organizational management.

The other parts of their lives were dangerous (self-inflicted) but they controlled what could be controlled by acting consistently in those area.

Other things I’ve learned are at The Waiter’s Pad and I share a monthly reading list of everything I’ve read..