The Most Irritating Blind Date Ever, And What It Has To Do With Innovation
So I went on this blind date once when I was about 22 or 23. It was at The Cheesecake Factory in Redondo Beach, California. I can’t remember who fixed us up, the guy’s name, or many other details. But what I do remember was getting in this heated debate with him about science.
Wait, let me step back. So, I love science. I have a bunch of doctors in my family and always loved nerding out on medical stuff. I was a math major in college. I have always been fascinated by physics. Not necessarily the algorithms associated with it. But the way those algorithms attach math to the experience of life. I was an engineer and led teams of engineers and saw this beautiful creative process happen during systems design time and again. To me, science and math are creative. In fact, the ultimate form of creativity, since it’s well known that literally any and all forms of creation live on a foundation of math.
So back to the date. I think he’d asked me how I got into engineering, and I probably brought up some weird science-y theory I’d concocted. And he went all black and white on me. He basically said that if something has not been proven already, it’s impossible.
First, let’s get one thing straight. I am a firm believer in science.
