GTD: apparently not for Hollywood Heroes yet...

[JakeInBrighton]

Hello fellow GTD enthusiasts! I thought you might appreciate something I found funny when I went to the movies recently. One of the 'heroic' character traits that they gave "Jack Reacher" (Tom Cruise) was that he never writes anything down, with the idea that he'll simply remember everything that he needs to. To anybody who practices GTD this doesn't make him look like a hero, it just looks incredibly silly. Maybe one day there will be hollywood heroes who keep writing little notes to themselves and throwing them in inboxes.

[JimSmith]

I think regular society kind of equates writing everything down as a sort of weakness. It's funny because for the last year or so (since I started GTD) I think the hero would not be the person that remembers everything in his head, but the one who clears his head completely so he has room to allow for spontaneity and moments of creative brilliance.

[TesTeq]

One of the 'heroic' character traits that they gave "Jack Reacher" (Tom Cruise) was that he never writes anything down, with the idea that he'll simply remember everything that he needs to. To anybody who practices GTD this doesn't make him look like a hero, it just looks incredibly silly.

I interpret it differently. Maybe he has a superpower to remember everything with a computer RAID 6 accuracy and reliability. We mere mortals have to use an external memory, Jack Reacher doesn't. Similarily we have to use airplanes, Superman doesn't.

[JakeInBrighton]

I hope they bring back heroes like Columbo. That guy wrote things down!

[jrdouce]

I think the sad truth is that that is societies ideal. The guy in the class or meeting who rattles facts and numbers off from memory is generally considered smarter than the guy leafing through his notes. As long as the the memory guy is speaks confidently, people seem to forget that he's more often wrong than the guy reading accurately from his notes.

At least that's what I notice - as a guy with a memory like a sieve.

[Chas29]

I hope they bring back heroes like Columbo. That guy wrote things down!

Excellent, Jake!

Chas29

[ellobogrande]

In the movie Catch Me If You Can FBI agent Hanratty was able to determine Frank Abignale's whereabouts in France because another agent took detailed notes during an interview with his parents. Handratty remembered the name started with an "M" but couldn't remember the rest. The agent took out his notebook and found the name of the village from where his mother originated in the transcript. Had he not written down that information they never would have found him.