i&#x27;ll give you a recent anecdote<p>i was working on a project where i needed to convert linear motion into rotational motion<p>i was working through some schemes and though functional by design they were failing in the real world scenarios i was building for<p>frustrated i sat down for a break and doped up on some hn for a bit<p>this post came up:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10714048" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10714048</a><p>i clicked through and was surprised by how much i enjoyed the lists found within,<p>so i clicked on the portrait in the corner to learn more about the person putting the lists together<p>this led me to this page:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.staff.science.uu.nl&#x2F;~hooft101&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.staff.science.uu.nl&#x2F;~hooft101&#x2F;</a><p>an almost goofy early web days personal page of this nobel prize winning physicist<p>while scrolling though the personal page, clicking on random things and skimming through them, i came across an animation in the &#x27;unpublished works&#x27; section<p>i looked at it for a second and thought.. is that a rotational motion being converted into a linear motion?<p>i searched for &#x27;Peaucellier–Lipkin linkage&#x27; and found this video: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=D30iFxhJTQA" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=D30iFxhJTQA</a><p>and there it was, linear to rotational motion and much more robust than the other efforts i was attempting<p>i built it and it worked<p>i&#x27;ve since designed out the need for the conversion but it was an important step along the way in the build<p>i&#x27;d err away from the charge to &#x27;get to work&#x27; and suggest one instead: &#x27;enjoy yourself&#x27;