Heyo!
Steve here - just another quick reminder to add “steve@stevekamb.com” to your address books, that’s the new address this newsletter will come from over the coming weeks!
Thanks in advance. Okay! On to today’s newsletter.
Social media has taught us that we must have an opinion on everything.
We’re constantly told that we should “fake it til we make it.”
This combination ends up with a society full of people confidently expressing incorrect opinions without a basic understanding of facts.
This is the exact opposite way we should be thinking about learning and interacting with each other.
Admitting we don’t know something isn’t something to hide or shy away from.
It’s a sign of maturity, confidence, and intelligence.
It’s also the only way we’ll actually learn new stuff!
Creator to Creator
I stumbled across a podcast/video that combines like eight of my nerdy interests into a single conversation!
There’s a new interview series from Sony called “Creator to Creator,” which hosts conversations between video game developers and other creators.
The most recent episode is a conversation between game designer/director Neil Druckman and writer/director Alex Garland, nerding out about video games, each other’s work, writing, directing, and the creative process.
As somebody who has watched, read, and played practically everything these two have been involved with, I found this conversation to be a nerd’s dream.
In case you don’t know these guys, let me quickly explain:
Alex Garland’s life reads like an adventure novel.
Back in his 20s, Garland wrote a novel called The Beach, inspired by his backtracking trip through Thailand. This was adapted into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton, and he had so much fun on set that he decided “maybe I’ll just try writing screenplays.”
He then wrote the screenplays for 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go, and Dredd.
Garland then decided, “Maybe I’ll try writing AND directing?”
His directorial debut was Ex Machina! This is one of the best sci-fi films ever, and was nominated for multiple Academy Awards.
He went on to write and direct Annihilation, the criminally underrated show DEVS, and last year’s harrowing Civil War.
He’s also a huge nerd and gamer, so he’s dabbled in comics and writing stories for video games like Devil May Cry, because sure why not.
On the other side of the conversation is Neil Druckmann.
Druckmann is co-director on Playstation’s Uncharted 2 and co-creator/writer for the genre-defining The Last of Us games (as well as its television adaption on HBO).
In other words: these are two masters of their craft, talking about their craft, and geeking out over each other!
I loved every second of it.
But I want to highlight one segment for one very specific reason.
While talking about his first time directing for The Last of Us, Druckmann mentions how he took a class on acting and story to help him get his feet wet.
When Garland asks about the class, Druckmann almost sheepishly mentions Robert McKee, Oscar-winning screenwriter and one of the most influential screenwriting teachers on the planet.
It’s almost as if Druckmann is embarrassed to bring up such a foundational teacher to an accomplished screenwriter like Garland.
It’d be like bringing up Stephen Hawking to Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
But Garland’s reply really surprised me:
“I don’t know anything about him [McKee]!
I mean, I’ve heard of him…but…”
This is Alex Garland!
He’s written some of the best screenplays in the past few decades.
He’s been nominated for Academy Awards for his screenplays!
He could have easily said “yes I know Robert McKee” or pretended like he knew, and nobody would have ever assumed otherwise.
Instead, he was honest in his not-knowing.
Just when I thought my man-crush on the guy couldn’t get any bigger…
He’s also somebody who doesn’t mind saying “I don’t know,” even if 99.9% of the world would assume it’s something he must know about.
Compared to how the rest of the planet operates, this is such a breath of fresh air!
It's okay to say "I Don't Know."
In Zen Buddhism, there’s a term called Shoshin, or “beginner’s mind:”
Shoshin encourages us to approach life with curiosity, openness, and no preconceived notions. That even when we think we know something, not attaching our ego to being right, and instead constantly looking to learn more.
I used to think I knew everything when I was 25. Everything was black and white, good or bad, and I had all the answers.
It turns out I was wrong about a lot of things.
Fortunately, over the following 15 years, I developed enough maturity to realize I didn’t know everything. I’ve had to work hard to keep this beginner’s mind.
These days, I gladly approach life with curiosity, not judgment. I gladly admit when I don’t know something…because then it’s an opportunity for me to learn something new or change my mind on something.
I’d love to hear from you:
Hit reply on this email, and tell me something you’re no longer afraid to admit you don’t know how it works.
This is a safe place! I promise I’ll read every reply.
-Steve
PS: Just another reminder to add steve@stevekamb.com to your email contacts to make sure you keep getting this newsletter!
