Explainer: A change of perspective is worth 80 IQ points
Two young fish were swimming along. An older fish swimming the other way nods at them and says, “How’s the water?” The two young fish swim on for a bit, then one of them says, “What the hell is water?”[1]
According to Alan Kay, thanks to the above exchange, the IQ of each of the two younger fishes increased by 80 points!
Apologies. This will all make sense.
Actually, it's all about this quote:
"A change of perspective is worth 80 IQ points."
It is beautifully yet densely explained by author:
https://www.quora.com/What-did-Alan-Kay-mean-by-A-change-of-perspective-is-worth-80-IQ-points
It isn't about IQ or fishes. It emphasizes that while learning, the most important lessons are the ones that are absorbed as context and rendered invisible.
"Reality is mostly just beliefs with no stronger foundations."
The whole idea is the advocacy of the well-spirited application of "making the invisible context visible" to yield practical results.
"People operate on surprisingly weak contexts"
Eg. The same news creates outrage in some family members but utter nonchalance in others. Probably, simply because some members were operating on a weaker context.
This is all well and fine. But why are we discussing this mental yoga anyways?
Here: A change in context may lead to practical results.
It can allow scientists to come up with compact theories that align with the new observations.
It might allow people to become more kind and forgiving or help in creativity.
"A great metaphor is not just a commercial for more thinking, but also can be a door into stronger contexts for thinking."
The idea should seem simple enough now. Let it be absorbed as context and be rendered invisible.
This is water x 2
P.S. To keep asking "What the hell is water?" is it's own kind of answer. https://youtu.be/Qg031UVWrT0
[1] Wallace speech: https://youtu.be/xoblutORPNA