All knowledge is worth having? Data points in favor.

[flexagon]

At work, the binary I work on saves some information to log files. The last tech lead said "hey, we could save some space by not storing this one thing!" and then they left the design up to me. I made it way more aggressive and asked people "what do you use?" Then when all the replies were in, I suggested we trash the specific things that nobody mentioned... ultimately releasing a huge cascade of simplifying results.

Before minimalism, I would have asked the wrong question. I would have asked "what don't you use", which nobody can really answer. I would have been frustrated, and not much space would have been saved. 
Last Sunday we were assembling flat-pack dressers. The directions said "use your thumb to press these pieces into place". It hurt my thumb a little, so after a couple of these, I set them into place and gently pressed them into place with my toe by stepping on them. (I also used body weight in place of a hammer for some other pieces -- quieter).

Before acroyoga taught me about Thai massage, it would not have been second nature to apply force using body weight.

So this is a post about how knowledge from one field can be applied in another, and how it happens in the most unexpected ways, in projects big and small, and you may not even realize it's happening until much later when you ask "I wonder how it was that I thought to do that".

Do you have any recent examples? I'd love to hear them.

Comments

[soong.livejournal.com]

I once compared cross learnings I took from Karate into Swing Dance. Later I generalized this into: "You know how to move". I think there are lots of systems of movement where having studied them it is easier to learn other things. You know how to move, you just don't know this one new motion yet, but you'll pick it up fast. Martial Arts. Dancing. Yoga. Gymnastics. Etc. Although, "upside-down" seems to be a special class of movement that has to be learned at least once.

a huge cascade of simplifying results

I like the sound of that change.