Secrets: Observation 28. Unsharable objects are perfect secrets. 2007
Observation
A key observation in the story is that perfect secrets are unique, personal experiences or knowledge that exist solely within one's mind, often in a form that cannot be shared or described to others. This concept is exemplified by the narrator's personal secret - a model of energy transfer that is difficult to articulate to others, regardless of its significance or their attempts to do so. The story highlights the uniqueness of individual thought processes and experiences.
The Lesson
Understanding and respecting the uniqueness of each person's thoughts and experiences is crucial for effective communication and empathy.
How this is helpful
Empathy: Recognizes individual uniqueness.
Communication: Encourages seeking understanding beyond words.
Innovation: Inspires creative, personal solutions.
Questions for Reflection
Unique Thoughts: How do my unique thoughts shape my world?
Sharing Secrets: What challenges do I face when trying to share my innermost thoughts?
Understanding Others: How can I better understand others' perspectives that are communicated beyond words?
Unsharable objects are perfect secrets.
Imagine pictures of your face in four mood states: Happy, Laughing, Angry, Sad. If you blended them together into 100 images and picked four of them to be your password, you could know them, but never share them with another person. This is a perfect secret.
This is a visualization of thermodynamics at a single snapshot in time. I learned this doing experiments with marbles, ramps, and dominoes in 1980. It took me 27 years to find a way to explain it to other people.
