Sadly, Popeye is becoming less popular. It’s hard to come by someone younger than 20 who thinks of Popeye when I say, “I yam what I yam!”
While the fading memory of Popeye as a character is saddening, what’s worse is the decumbent understanding of Popeye’s Error.
It’s easy to figure that Spinach profit was long and prosperous after Popeye hit the television. What few ask though: why Spinach?
Why couldn’t Popeye eat nails, or grit, or gunpowder?
In 1870, the German chemist Erich von Wolf tested the amount of iron within spinach and in his reporting, he incorrectly placed a decimal point so that it read that there is 35 milligrams of iron in Spinach rather than 3.5. As a result of the high amount of iron in spinach, Popeye was given it to become strong and mighty – a true sailor.
This fact – Popeye’s Error – is one we must continue to remember. Success takes critical inquiry and the story of Popeye is the outlier, the rare case when making a measurable error leads to something remarkable.
It hurts to fail. It hurts worse to fail and have others succeed by feeding off your failure.
Stay Positive & Unless It’s Intentional (in that case, I think we should talk)
Garth E. Beyer
Photo credit
