Living life as an experiment

Credit asiasociety.org

While growing up, you assume there's a straight path to living (at least that's what I thought): go to school, get a job, find a partner, get kids, raise them (or neglect them if you wish), then die off.

What I never knew at that time was that the path to living is what you choose it to be.

What's become more apparent to me lately is that everything I touch is some sort of experiment (whether explicit or implicit). Being full of curiosity helps immensely.

When starting an experiment, scientists use an open-ended approach in order to get to the answers that they're seeking.

Below is a summary that scientists and researchers take

1. Pick a topic.
2. Do background research and gather data.
3. Construct a hypothesis.
4. Analyze the data.
5. Draw conclusions.

What if I could apply the above steps to my daily life?

What if I carefully chose to participate in the aspects (topics) of living that I want (sheerly out of choice or circumstance)?

It is doable—intrinsically or extrinsically.

For example, Qn: Do I want to learn welding?

Ans: Yes.

Qn: What do you need to make a product out of metal?

Ans: Well, you need metal, welding machine, a metal cutter, electricity, e.t.c

Qn: Ok, great. Where can I find all the items I have mentioned?

The above mini-discussion highlights the constant decision-making that we have to undertake as humans.

An unpainted charcoal grill I made while experimenting with welding and sourcing metals.

Because you're living life as an experiment, you become more willing to take more risks, to acknowledge and recognize failure, and to learn and develop.

In hindsight, that’s what experiments are all about: asking and answering questions (hypotheses). What and how to ask and what and when to answer are dictated by the data points you're feeding into your experiment.

It is important to note that there is no real failure in an experiment because it’s all data. If something doesn’t work, that’s simply data that leads to changing behavior to see if something else does work.

Living a life of experimentation (make sure to have fun while at it) leads you to a life full of learning and unlearning.

"How does this thing work?"

"Okay, let me try it and find out."

I believe this is a much better way to discover yourself as a human being.