3. A Constellation of Encodings
I’d like you to fix an image in your mind. Picture a constellation of stars. Now imagine looking through a frame that limits how much of the constellation you can see (such as looking through the lens of a telescope or camera); stars outside of the frame remain hidden, while those inside the frame shine brightly brightly through the lens. This is how I came to think about discovering encodings. The encodings are fixed, just as the stars in the sky are largely fixed. What changes as people move through life is the positioning and size of the frame, and whether a big cluster of encodings sits brightly visible in frame.
Life worked best for the people in our study when they deployed themselves into activities that aligned with a big bright set of their encodings. I will sometimes shorthand this with the phrase “in frame.” Conversely, their lives didn’t work as well when they deployed themselves into activities poorly aligned with what they were encoded for. I will sometimes shorthand this to the phrase “out of frame.” Even the most exceptional people can get sidetracked by going out of frame. They can also be revitalized by coming back in frame.