PATHNUDIUS:  Did you ever hear the story of the old man and the sea?

THAIS:  No.

PATHNUDIUS:  This old man, he gets up one morning and he travels, a long way, to the sea.  And when he gets there, he stays very still, waiting.  The sea knows it’s him.  And the sea says, “What do you want?”  “What do I want?” says the old man, “I’ll tell you, but I’ve traveled very far so can I just come in a little bit first?” 

“All right,” says the sea.  The old man steps in, till he’s up to his ankles, and then his knees.  The water is very cold.  “Why have you come to me?” asks the sea.  The old man says, “I’ll tell you, but let me come just a little bit further in.”  “All right,” says the sea, impressed, “You’re very brave for an old man.  The water is cold.”

The water is cold, but the man steps in, till he’s up to his chest.  “Now tell me,” says the sea, “what do you want?” “I’ll tell you,” says the old man, “but you need to let me come still further in.”  “All right,” says the sea, and the old man steps in till he’s up to his shoulders, and then his neck.  “Now tell me,” says the sea.  “Why have you come to me?”  “I’ll tell you, but let me come further in.”  “No,” says the sea, “there are sharks and you might get hurt.”  “I wanted to go swimming,” says the man.

THAIS: Swimming.

PATHNUDIUS:  And the sea realized that for all its sharks, and even though it was cold, the man still wanted to go swimming.

THAIS: Did you make that up?

PATHNUDIUS: It’s a teaching aide.

THAIS: What happened to the man?

(Excerpted from “L-”, a play I wrote in 2004.)

This is a repost of my article written August 2005 and last updated in January 2006.  Enjoy.

Ryan was looking for a new career. He wrote me a half–page letter asking for advice. When I searched the text of his letter, two of the four top results were links to art magazines. Ryan liked the content of the art magazines very much. But he said that what surprised him was that, before he had written to me, he had actually been in the process of starting his own online art magazine.

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INTRODUCTION Most unsuccessful searches are either so specific that the searcher thinks he can’t find the information he needs, or so broad that the searcher thinks she doesn’t know enough to narrow her search down properly. Such searches are often the most important to the searcher. In this article, I will use Google as an example to explain a learning process of how to search and find whatever is most important to you.

In his June 12, 2005 New York Times article, “Enough Keyword Searches. Just Answer My Question,” James Fallows detailed how he “wasted what seemed like hours over the weekend with normal search tools” trying to “track the changes in California’s spending on its schools. An ideal Q.A. system would let [us] ask, ‘How has California’s standing among states in per–student school funds changed since the 1960’s?’ – and it would draw from all relevant sources to find the right answer.”¹ Mr. Fallows could have found his answer in less than 30 minutes.²

(to be continued)

—–FOOTNOTES:¹ {Search} is: a process through which insight or meaning is obtained, by purposeful examination of words or components within a system. {System} is: a defined set of interrelations.²A section of this article (on “Google Myths”) was removed on January 23, 2006 because, since this article was written, Google has improved their search, making the impact of the myths less significant.

Was talking with M.X.A. yesterday.  M.X.A. is a literary agent.  She mentioned how critiquing a writer’s work before she had taken on the writer as a client never led to good results.  I added my two cents that critiquing a website or marketing campaign or strategy before building a strong relationship with my clients never led to good results.  At best, potential or early client says “Good idea! but we don’t have the resources to change.”

Building a relationship is the first step.  For me, showing results, at least on a small scale, is the second step.  Then and only then do suggestions, insights, constructive criticisms, etc., make a difference.

When I was in Florida last November, it was really sunny.  Eventually, I saw an ostrich.  The ostrich dived at me.  Luckily, I survived.

Then I kept my distance from other birds and plants that looked like a bird.