Who Knows?: Trying to Build Impossible Things
How to do impossible things by Mark Ellision
I picked up How to Build Impossible Things by Mark Ellison with a lot of excitement. The title promised me a masterclass on doing the impossible. Instead, halfway through, I realized the most impossible thing was me staying awake through all the jargon.
Still, I won’t call it a total loss. Here are a few notes I took from the chapters I actually managed to read before tapping out:
Effort is its own reward. An effort made today builds strength for tomorrow. Stack a few thousand days of that, and things will look completely different.
When inspiration strikes, follow it. Don’t overthink. Just build, write, paint, whatever it is.
What you do with your genetic winnings matters. Talent might give you a head start, but what you do with it counts far more.
Interesting people have interests. Usually, ones they pursue just because they find them interesting.
Talent is a great sifter. It helps filter who sticks around and who burns out.
Every endeavor is endless. You never really “finish.” There’s always more to learn, more to explore.
Ask for what you want. Because nobody is lining up to offer it to you otherwise.
After that… well, just pages and pages of construction jargon and their meanings. And that’s where I decided to leave it.
Verdict? Not a bad book, but definitely not for me. If you’re obsessed with architecture and carpentry details, you might love it. But if you’re looking for something more universal, this might feel like building a wall brick by brick with no end in sight.
Sometimes, the best lesson is knowing when to put a book down.