Suggestions for Emerging Atypicals
Distribution: Bell Curve
Scatter: Clustered with Outliers
Scatter: Many, Many Dimensions with Outliers
The previous three slides represent mental models of our condition:
The 3D model helps me understand myself in relation to most people I meet. It’s about orientation—where I stand, not just how far.
The bell curve helps me understand how others tend to categorize me. It’s their frame—not mine—but it’s critical for functioning in society.
The Multi-D model reminds me how absurd it is to think any single model can capture it all. Life is richer—and messier.
*Since we are all different kinds of atypical, create your own model.
Suggestions: - Aim for accuracy over identity: Revise, revise, revise. - Consider that these are often the same: Believe, Know, Suspect, Have Faith In. - Be willing to be wrong—and change quickly. - “Don’t believe everything you think.” - I use the acronym CWH – Current Working Hypothesis – to remind myself: > It’s okay to adjust the model as the data changes.
The original title of this talk was
Using Linguisitic Transformation to Define An Agentic Path gets us to.
If you see one, yell “Opportunity”
“We are not broken.”
That’s the only time I’ll say it.Because focus takes practice.
And this talk is about building, not reacting.
Audience rule:
🗣 If I slip back into talking about what we are not—
Yell “BZZZ!”
If a tool doesn’t reduce friction, it’s not a tool—it’s an ornament.
You don’t owe your attention to every signal.
You can step in. You can step out. You can rewrite your role.
My ToE: - All information is culturally transmitted
- Cultures are sets of conversations
- Conversations are bundles of information
I use this to choose where—and how—I participate.
“Believe,” “know,” “understand”—for me, they’re all shorthand for:
Current Working Hypothesis
This gives me: - Flexibility without shame
- Strength without arrogance
- A toolbox, not a dogma
Example: Jobs
- Companies may see NA employees as risky
- Consultants = lower perceived risk
- I don’t apply—I propose
→ And that has opened doors a résumé couldn’t
You will build your own tools.
These are mine.
Use them as blanks. Modify. Break. Rebuild.
The point isn’t to follow—
It’s to practice agency by modeling and building in your own way.
Dan Mailman
dan@danmailman.net
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