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Why Thinking Like a 3-Year-Old Is the Key to Being Smart
When I was a kid, my mom used to buy apple shampoo. I’ve always loved apples. They smell fruity, taste great, and are super healthy. So every time I washed my hair, I couldn’t help but think: “That shampoo smells like the freshest, juiciest apple I’ve ever — or never, rather — had.”
You see where this is going.
Even then, I knew shampoo wasn’t supposed to taste like anything. But if it smelled so much like one of my favorite foods in the world, how could it not? Well, one day in the shower, I chose to find out. The lesson? Shampoo does have flavor. Unfortunately, it’s a disgusting one. I spat it out immediately. It was bitter and slimy and not at all what the smell had advertised.
And yet, even though it took forever to get the taste out of my mouth, I still remember this day as a happy day. Finally, I was sure: This thing is not what it seems to be, and I know because I tried it myself.
In a video called “This is Not a Cactus,” Evan Hadfield stands next to a large, succulent plant somewhere in Ethiopia. It’s called Euphorbia candelabrum, and, despite looking exactly like a cactus, it’s not even in the same family of plant species. Evan grew up in Texas, he explains, and in Texas, everything that looks like a cactus is, well, a cactus. Naturally, he expected this visually…
