Everyone sees the world in different ways. This statement appears very obvious. Let's be more specific. Artists see the world in one way. Engineers a different way. Writers still another way. Entrepreneurs yet another way. I consider myself an amalgmation of those different perspectives. When I observe a scene, I typically see from one of these perspectives. The artist and writer's perspectives come easiest to me but that's probably because I often carry a camera and notepad with me so I have trained myself to see the world like that by default.
Still, I find the world to be quite more of an exciting place when I will my mind to take on another perspective, or the coined phrase "mental eye". The scene is the same but what you see is often completely different. I believe that the ability to adopt different mental eyes may be directly related to creativity.
Though this requires some mental flexibility, if you can do this, you can get so much more from the world. A simple example is just by looking at an old fire hydrant. The photographer side of me sees the paint peeling off in a display of neglect and an odd patchwork of patterns due to it. There is some beauty to that.
I switch to the engineer eye. I see that there is an opening for a fireman to attach a hose to. Instantly, a number of questions assault me as I realize my own ignorance. The engineering mental eye for me is especially good at revealing my own ignorance in how the world works.
I start wondering what the water pressure for these things typically are. Does it vary with the location of the fire hydrant? Say the fire hydrant was 20 feet higher, will it be in a less effective spot due to possible lower water pressure? So is the placement usually in the highest possible spot and closest location to a building? What about the size of the hose? Was it designed just to fit a certain hose radius? It looks like it but of course the hose end can have an adapter that fits the fire hydrant so that probably resolves it. What about its interior? How many valves and pipes are in there and what's the design? When a fireman wants water, he just loosens the cap doesn't he? What's to stop from the water pressure suddenly gushing out and hitting him in the face? That seems a rather stupid design if true. No, there must be a valve that is turned on when the fireman presses a switch on the hose end that will be attached to the opening. I'm imagining something like a gas pump.
I switch to the entrepreneur eye. I see a disused neglected piece of equipment. I'm wondering why it's neglected to such a state. Fire hydrants I believe are maintained by the city government. This here means that the city is lacking some funds to maintain the city's equipment. Perhaps the reason is due to this one's remote location. Yet, the infrastructure supporting this fire hydrant still exists. Is it possible for a private company to renovate these fire hydrants? Of course that's possible but if the city had funds for that it would have done so. How about the reverse? Do they still work Need to investigate lifetime of fire hydrants under state of neglect. If it's over the expected lifetime, a company can remove these since they might pose a public health hazard. What possible health hazards? I'm not sure but it deserves investigation. That's just one business case. Maybe there's others. Considering the out-of-way location of this one and possibly others, they will not be missed here. Is there enough fire hydrants in neglect though to justify a venture here?
That's just one example of a rather mundane object. As you observe in life, there are millions of others. In other words, this world is really cool if you just pay attention and observe.
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