Sherlock Holmes – His Limit

Dr. Watson’s note on Sherlock Holmes

1. Knowledge of Literature – Nil.
2. Philosophy – Nil.
3. Astronomy – Nil.
4. Politics -Feeble.
5. Botany Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Know nothing of practical gardening.
6. Knowledge of Geology – Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soil from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
7. Knowledge of Chemistry – Profound.
8. Anatomy. – Accurate, but unsystematic.
9. Sensational Literature. – Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
10. Play violin well.
11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordman.
12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.

Arthur Conan Doyle – Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet.

New era advantage

A famous quote from Sherlock Holmes goes:

I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain- attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge, you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”

Arthur Conan Doyle – Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet.

Now, I want you to pay attention to 2 most important points in his theory. ” It is a mistake to think that little room has elastic walls” and “Tools which may help him in doing his work”. Or you can understand as your brain is limited in space and what you know should be useful to your work/ deduction.

While the second one (what you know should be useful to your work/ deduction) is still true, the first one (your brain is limited) is somewhat distortable.

In this era, Google has powered the information industry so greatly that you don’t even need to know everything. Have you ever been in a situation where you come to a clinic and the doctor goes on Wikipedia?

The brain is still limited in space, but now, the brain is not an attic anymore, it has become a library. And your job is knowing how to get to the books, files that you needed for the case, and run over there as fast as possible.

To “run” as fast as possible, check out my guide: Control Your Mind.

To know the direction to the books, you’ll need some basic knowledge of everything, just enough so that you can google it or consult in the network of detectives.

Having basic knowledge of things can also help you become a social chameleon, your perfect “hide in plain sight” to gather information or control the crowd.

With the fast-paced changing in cultures and technology, you’ll need to update news and trends so that you’ll know if some idea is even possible and maybe leverage your deductions, experimental try out,etc.

Superior Sherlock Limit

This list is made for casual deduction enjoyers, not detective or job specific.

1. Social trends, slang: feeble.
2. World news: feeble.
3. Local news and trend: Practical.
4. Observant: whole body scan and surroundings in 5 seconds.
5. Knowledge of different marks: Practical.
6. Social skills: Small talk+, politeness
7. Fitness: Work out at least 3 times a week.
8. Learning new things everyweek.

These are the basic, minimal. You must tailor and increase in intensity based on where you want to excel at in life, either your profession or social.

A good list will include: Common sense, Local and global news/trends, deduction skills, personal chosen area to excel, fitness, mind health.