Serendipitous Discovery

The methods I use to get the most out of this life

I went to a library the other day because I heard the architecture was beautiful. It was, but while I was there I started browsing the books and found book after book where the subject interested me. I felt like I could spent 100 years here reading all these amazing books. Fortunately I don’t wear glasses so there would be no possibility of a Twilight Zone like scenario.

These books can’t be discovered on the internet because you only find what you search for and you can’t search for what you don’t yet know exists. I feel like this problem is spreading to all aspects of life now as or world gets more internetified. I word I just now invented. Instead of going to the store we search for what we want on Amazon. Instead of flipping through the channels on cable and finding some random movie I’ve never heard of, I am getting everything suggested to me through an algorithm. Instead of listening to whatever comes on the radio, algorithm.

I do enjoy the algorithm, but Youtube feeds me invariably something related to science, math, reaction videos, food or comedy. All things I am interested in watching, but every once in a while it could throw something new into the mix. I would love to be able to randomly switch algorithms with other users and see what a whole different set of interests looks like.

Google and AI are great for researching things but they only return results you’re searching for. So what are ways we could expand our horizons?

I love my Kindle. Having tons of books on hand at all times with notes and highlights that don’t ruin the book is a great thing, but I only find what I search for. What if they created a virtual reality library where you could walk down the isles, everything organized in the Dewey decimal system? You could pick up a book and read the first chapter in VR and if you’re into it, click a button that buys it and sends it to your Kindle in the real world.

One thing you can do to expand your horizons is get an unlimited movie pass at the theater, and just go see everything single movie that comes out. Don’t look at the reviews, just see everything. Even the completely terrible movies (Hurry up Tomorrow) are interesting in their own way. It can be fun to go online and see what everyone is saying about such a complete disaster, but also you'll see some of the best movies you’ve never heard of. Some of the best movies I saw last year were movies that only made a few millions dollars at the box office.

Another thing I used to do was go into Spotify and look at the new release section. It’s kind of hard to find, but it’s there somewhere. 95% percent of all new music is absolutely terrible, but you can usually identify within the first couple songs that an album is nothing you’re into and skip to the next album. Some of my favorite albums of recent years were discovered with this method.

One thing I did recently was get on a random bus near my house and see where it went. Buses are great because they go where people want to go, so you usually pass through a few commercial districts. A place with a lot of restaurants and bars all right next to each other. If you just sit and look out the window you’ll see a bunch of cool parks, trails, stores, etc. In the Google Maps app I have a folder called “Places I want to go” and I add anything that looks interesting and make some time to check those places out.

Another great resource is Eventbrite which lists events happening in your area. There are other similar sites as well. I’ve been to mineral shows, whiskey tastings, model train conventions, chocolate festival, cheese festivals, art shows, seafood festivals, reptile shows, Oktober Fests, and many more. It took me like 20 minutes to write that, sitting and thinking of all these events.

There are local newspapers that have things like the best pizzas in your town, best hamburgers, etc. One of these was the best Pizzas in Seattle. You may live in a different city, so probably don’t search for best pizzas in Seattle, but use your city instead. It took me a year but I systematically went to 15 different pizza places and found some amazing places. Not only the pizza places themselves, but cool stuff near them.

I do freelance programming for a living so I work on my laptop all the time. I have been to very many coffee shops, spending hours on Google Maps, and going to random Starbucks or independent coffee chops within a 1 hour radius drive from my house. You can make a whole day of it often. Find a coffee shop you’ve never been to, go there and get some work done, then find the nearest LA Fitness (Or whatever gym your a member of), get a work out in, then find a bar or restaurant with a good rating on Google Maps. I’ve been to all sorts of different cities around me and explored them.

I have an unquenchable thirst for novelty. I know everybody isn’t like this. I got my DNA profiled and found this was a genetic trait I had. The name of this Substack says it all. I love to find new areas of interest and explore it in depth, try to learn everything I can about something new, and then move on to the next thing. I know some people who can eat the same meal every day for their whole life. I am not like this. I’ve got to put in hours to find ways to expand my horizons, and if you’re one of those like myself, hopefully this will give you some ideas. I would love to see some comments about what your methods are for finding novel experiences.

If you enjoy this blog, I write about a wide variety of topics, whatever is interesting me at the time, so hopefully this could be a resource for you. If so, please subscribe to this and I’ll be constantly trying to find interesting things in this world for you to check out.