This is about what happened when a nine year-old touched the wall first, looked up, and showed a room full of adults something we've spent years convincing ourselves we don't need.

There is a moment, right at the beginning of a meal with someone you don't yet fully know, that I can't stop thinking about. Before the menus are even open. Before anyone has decided. The hinge — the space that hasn't formed yet, is one of the most psychologically rich environments available to us. And most people move through it as fast as possible.

It’s about the difference between scarcity and abundance as lived psychology. Why some environments train you to brace while others train you to build.

If design quality is abundant, taste is scarce. If writing quality is abundant, voice is scarce. If knowledge is abundant, wisdom is scarce. If intelligence is abundant, perspective is scarce.