The Inner Monologue

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the sheer brilliance of highly educated professionals who can diagnose a rare autoimmune disorder but stare blankly at a leaky faucet like it’s written in hieroglyphics. Oh, you understand complex biological systems? Great. Then why does your sink still sound like a dying seagull?

Here’s the thing: everything is a system. Your body? A system. Your car? A system. Your plumbing? Also a system. They all have inputs, outputs, pressure issues, blockages, and failure points. And yet, somehow, the same person who can interpret an MRI with their eyes closed will panic when their toilet won’t stop running. “But it’s different!” No, it’s not. A clog is a clot, a leak is a hemorrhage, and if you can troubleshoot a circulatory system, you can probably figure out why your radiator is overheating.

Doctors aren’t the only offenders, of course. Engineers who can design bridges but can’t assemble IKEA furniture. Lawyers who can argue constitutional law but freeze when their Wi-Fi goes out. “I’m not technical,” they say, as if reading an error message requires a PhD in computer science rather than, say, the ability to Google things.

The real issue? People love silos. They love the idea that their expertise is so specialized that nothing else applies. But here’s the dirty secret: critical thinking is transferable. If you can diagnose why a patient is short of breath (is it the lungs? The heart? The blood?), you can absolutely deduce why your car won’t start (is it the battery? The alternator? The fuel pump?). The steps are the same: observe, hypothesize, test, repeat.

So next time your sink drips or your check engine light comes on, don’t just throw money at a professional and sigh, “I’m just not handy.” Try applying that big, beautiful brain of yours. Worst case? You fail and call a plumber anyway. Best case? You realize that skills aren’t magic—they’re just patterns you haven’t bothered to learn yet.

Now excuse me while I go perform open-heart surgery on my dishwasher. It’s basically the same thing.