The compass fallacy

Working on slides makes you look smart. But slides don’t find water.

There’s a kind of progress that happens indoors — neat charts, clean logic, the comfort of knowing where north is. And there’s the other kind — boots in the dark, one lamp, one pick, one compass that only works half the time.

Both matter. But don’t confuse the one that points with the one that moves.

The map won’t change until someone steps off it. And the best discoveries never started with perfect data — just someone willing to trust direction long enough to find new ground.