008 Feeling It Coming
Hey Fish, you feel the water move against your side, even in the dark when you can see nothing.
What would we notice, if we could feel it that early?
How do you sense trouble before you can see it?
Deep in a muddy pond, the water is brown and dark. A fish hangs still. Suddenly it darts away.
It did not see anything. So how did it know?
What really happens
Along each side of a fish runs a thin line of tiny sensors called the lateral line. It feels the smallest movements and pressure changes in the water around it.
When something moves nearby, even in total darkness, the fish feels the water push against its side. It works at close range, about a body length away, and it is often enough to save its life.
How we know: The lateral line is well studied in fish biology; it helps fish swim in schools, find prey and avoid danger.
The turn
We think we need to see a problem clearly before we can act on it.
But often we can feel it first: a change in someone's voice, a quiet in the team, a tightness in our own chest. These small pressure changes are signals too.
Three takeaways
- Not everything important is visible.
- Small changes close to you are early warnings.
- Learn to trust what you feel, then check it.
Some dangers you will never see. You can still feel them coming.
Behold the man of foresight who is armed for every contingency: he will never know the blow that causeth trembling.