There is theory, but there is no formula for art or creativity or genius or inspiration or progress. Quite the opposite. The people we remember and admire are the ones who defied the data and broke the expected. Many of those aren't artists but scientists, reminding us that the line between the two isn't as clear as we tend to think.
So despite the current predilection for offering up lists of what makes the perfect blog post or what successful people do before breakfast or the steps to a healthy relationship, the truth is there is no mathematical solution. The perfect length for a blog post is exactly how long it needs to be to say something compelling in a way that resonates with someone. The one thing truly successful people probably don't do is read lists of what other successful people did and think they just need to duplicate that. And any relationship we try to maintain according to the book is doomed to falter. Striving to do something perfectly or be just like someone else is a mug's game anyway.
We can look at the data and piece together something that looks like an explanation after the fact, and it may well be true and it may well be a predictor of what could come next. But it's never a guarantee. At best it can give you advice, but it doesn't set rules. Because there's one big unquantifiable variable at play: you.
No matter how big it is, the data doesn't know you. It may know what you've done and where you've been, but it doesn't know what you might do and where you might go. It can guess with some level of probability, but it can't know. The risk comes if you start to believe it can. The data could never have predicted Shakespeare or Hemmingway or da Vinci or Galileo or Jobs or Musk or your father or your daughter. Because, just like them, there is no formula for you and your potential.
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