Why You Should Get Messy | Adriana Fatato | TEDxBrownSchool
Adriana argues that perfection is creatively restrictive, citing her personal mess as an illustration that mistakes are necessary for thought and creation. She supports this by referencing Reshma So Johnny’s work with girls coding and Atticus Finch’s willingness to proceed despite expected failure. The core message is that embracing imperfection allows for learning and progress. ## Speakers & Context - Adriana: speaker, who identifies herself as a perfectionist and whose messy drawing is an attempt to shake off this perfection. - Reshma So Johnny: quoted individual who started a coding company to teach girls coding. - Atticus Finch: literary character mentioned as an example of brave action despite anticipated failure. ## Theses & Positions - Perfection is an imprisoning state, described as *"a kind of death."* - People learn more from mistakes than from getting everything right. - The ability to deviate from the plan (errant) is crucial for keeping the mind engaged and fostering creation. - Girls, specifically, are often taught to be perfect rather than brave, leading them to show nothing rather than showing progress. - Imperfection can be heroic. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Perfectionism:** The act of spending hours ensuring every detail is correct to avoid teachers taking points. - **Errant:** A word meaning "deviating from the plan or path." ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Learning process:** Mistakes enable conversation and deeper understanding (e.g., discussing decimal places if 22 was said instead of 2+2). - **Coding lessons:** Girls, when shown progress, would rather show nothing than show an imperfect attempt. ## Named Entities - Colombia: place related to a homework poster project. - Tequila Mockingbird: book from which Atticus Finch is referenced. - Tom Robinson: man whose trial in Alabama is cited as an example of proceeding despite overwhelming odds. ## Numbers & Data - Age of speaker: **13**. - Calculation example: **2+2** vs. **22**. ## Examples & Cases - **Poster Project:** Spent hours cutting tissue paper into petals of exact size and spacing for a poster on flowers in Colombia. - **Atticus Finch's Trial:** Defended an African-American man during the 1930s in Alabama; knew he would lose but proceeded anyway. - **Reshma So Johnny's coding lessons:** Boys submitted work with mistakes and were proud; girls would leave the screen blank if correction was possible, rather than submitting imperfect work. - **Personal action:** Making a messy drawing with finger paints in front of the audience. ## Tools, Tech & Products - Finger paints. - Poster board. - Tissue paper. ## References Cited - *To Kill a Mockingbird*: Novel source for the Atticus Finch example. - Johnny's TED talk: Source of insight regarding boys/girls and coding. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Perfection vs. Process:** Getting everything right leads to stagnation; making mistakes keeps learning and creates possibility for conversation. - **Showing Progress vs. Showing Perfection:** The alternative to showing an imperfect attempt is showing nothing at all. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The natural instinct regarding the messy painting was to "clean this all up and paint you a perfect picture." ## Conclusions & Recommendations - Get out there and intentionally make a mistake (e.g., send a typo email, cut the wrong size petals, paint messily) to explore "the amazing brave imperfections that makes you you." ## Implications & Consequences - If everything is done right, there is nothing left to say or learn. - The pursuit of perfection can be functionally equivalent to death. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I went for it and drew outside the lines."* - *"Perfection is a kind of death."* - *"If you do everything right in your life then there's nothing else to say."* - *"Well we could have had a great conversation about decimal places and I could have still finally gotten you to the right answer and we would have learned a lot more."* - *"Mistakes are where we wander off the path and try new things."* - *"Per means through and through and effect means done so perfect means all done."* - *"They should be taught to try and show their progress not try and give up."* - *"Atticus believed you should do something even when you know you're going to fail."* - *"Air is not a roadblock to learning it's our reason for learning."* - *"get out there and make a mistake send an email with a typo cut out the wrong size petals for your project on Columbian flowers or put on a dirty old t-shirt pick up some paint and get messy"*