up:: [[People MOC]] tags:: #concept #effort dates:: 2022-01-01 rank:: 3 - Outputs - output:: #output/youtube☑️ 2022-08-23 [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWRhpYScofk&t=460s). # The 5 Decade Rule Listen to the thinkers and doers born five decades before you. They are your grandparents, not of blood, but of ideas. - They are old enough to have already made their greatest contributions. - And those contributions have been vetted by the last 20-50 years. - They are young enough to come from the same cultural understandings. - They are old enough that you won't feel any competition towards them. - They are young enough you are able to see how they lived their life in a cultural context at least somewhat similar to your own. - - It makes me think of a peculiar goal: to be what they are to me. - To have someone 50 years younger than me—not in my family—deeply express how my thoughts have changed their life. I guess I will be on the lookout in the year 2066... - What exactly are they to me? I hope to share in a slow-burning series of love letters to the thinkers and doers that danced before me in the ongoing tapestry of thoughts and actions that help color our human story. I see an OVERLAY WINDOW listing out what I'm saying. Title in the upper left: Why the 5 Decade Rule works. Subtitle: Old Enough. Bullet: Your Idea Grandparent's greatest contributions have already been made and vetted as long as you've been alive. Subtitle2: Young Enough. Bullet: You still share enough of the same historical context with your Idea Grandparents to easily understand their ideas. ## Progeny of this concept I point to my PKM system for surfacing this [[happy little accident]]. It was an epiphany that hit me as I made a special view to show relevant people of prominence in my PKM system # Efforts ## Youtube script ### Hook Find your favorite thinkers and doers born five decades before you. They are your grandparents—not of blood, but of ideas. And they can help you, more than others. In the following, I'll share: how I discovered this, why it works, and how you can use it (plus a surprising takeaway at the end). Let's roll. ### CTA: Sub But first, it's crazy that over 77% of you are not subscribed. That's what I get for not asking. If you've been watching, and you're enjoying, please subscribe, because it helps me make more videos for you. Cool? Okay, let's go. ### Intro If you only organize alphabetically, you are missing out. To really understand something, every piece of context can really help. We already do this with our notes with things like "Date Created", but what about with people. Wouldn't be kinda cool to organize by date born? Actually it is. It tells you so much it's ridiculous we don't do it more often. So let's do some People Mapping now, and see how that led to the 5 Decade Rule... ### P1: Discovering the 5 Decade Rule through People Mapping %%walkthrough of Obsidian and Prominent People, the hardest part%% So I was note-making one day and decided to do this for people... I point to my PKM system for surfacing this [[happy little accident]]. It was an epiphany that hit me as I made a special view to show relevant people of prominence in my PKM system. When you have your own linked world of ideas, you will find these epiphanies happening consistently. ### P2: Why the 5 Decade Rule works What do [[Carl Sagan (kit)]] and [[Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (kit)]] have in common? They were born the same year. And that year - They are old enough to have already made their greatest contributions. - And those contributions have been vetted as long as you've been alive. - They are young enough to come from the same cultural understandings. - Meaning, you are able to see how they lived their life in a cultural context at least somewhat similar to your own. ### P3: How to use the 5 Decade Rule Take a moment, right now, and think about the big idea influencers in your life. Make a quick list. 5 people. Maybe more. But at least five. Now, go online and find out what year they were born. Let me say this clearly: It is a big, BIG problem if everyone you learn from is in their 20's. The best and most enriching way to learn is to learn from people from all ages—from every decade—and the majority of people you learn from should already be dead. So now, after you've grabbed their birth year, any patterns emerging? Let's go deeper. After doing this exercise, take a moment to recognize the extra questions you started asking yourself. This is where the magic happens that's so hard to pin down. But let's put a spotlight on it. For Carl Sagan and Mihaly, I want to know where they were during World War II. They were both kids then. How did that impact their psyche? Who else did I resonate with that was born in a similar period of time? This is what you get, when you give yourself a gift of a well-linked thinking environment. In this process, I hope you come to realize how much you may have missed out on organizing books, movies, and even people—by birth date. ### Conclusion: A surprising takeaway As I was thinking about all of this, it struck me: a worthwhile goal. - It makes me think of a peculiar goal: *to be what they are to me.* - To have someone (not in my family) 5 decades younger than me, deeply express how my thoughts have changed their life...*to be what they are to me.* - I guess I will be on the lookout in the late 2060's... ### Outro Hey, I hope you enjoyed the 5 Decade Rule. It's a nice concept handle. Please, please, please share your Idea Grandparents in the comments below. Let's get inspired by each other. And until next time my friends, Stay Connected!