Black box in an unlit room.
Framework for how to think about learning any topic or skill.
Welcome to EFFIGIES, a weekly newsletter offering actionable insights from my journey through reading and writing comics, designed to inspire you toward building a better life. To become our best selves, we must burn away who we are today.
What’s Inside:
What is JJ Abrams’ Mystery Box?
Y: The Last Man and what makes a good mystery box.
The black box in an unlit room and how to learn anything.
I love a good mystery. Not just in storytelling, but in life. I’ve always been a tinkerer, pulling things apart to see how they work and putting them back together. When I was first teaching myself to write, and to this day, that’s how I learned craft. But for most of my life I didn’t think too much about how and why I did this. It was more of a compulsion of curiosity than anything else. Then, this past week, I watched JJ Abrams’ TED Talk from way back in 2007 and some seemingly unrelated ideas started to coalesce.
JJ Abrams' Mystery Box.
JJ Abrams, the celebrated filmmaker and producer behind hits like Lost, Cloverfield, and Super 8, often speaks about his concept of the "Mystery Box." He introduced this idea during a TED Talk, where he told the story of how his grandfather took him to a magic shop in New York. The store sold sealed boxes for $15 that contained $50 worth of magic.
If you’ve ever been to a comic convention, I’m sure you’re familiar with the idea of a mystery box like the one Abrams is describing. Personally, I’ve always thought these kinds of blind boxes were cheesy and full of junk, but Abrams provides another point of view in his TED Talk that I can appreciate. Instead of opening it, Abrams chose to keep the box closed, using its mystery as a source of inspiration and creativity. He says:
The thing is that it represents infinite possibility. It represents hope. It represents potential. And what I love about this box, and what I realize I sort of do in whatever it is that I do, is I find myself drawn to infinite possibility, that sense of potential. And I realize that mystery is the catalyst for imagination.
The Mystery Box symbolizes the power of the unknown and the excitement that comes with curiosity and discovery. Abrams believes that mystery and intrigue are fundamental elements of storytelling that captivate audiences and keep them engaged. By withholding information and revealing it gradually, storytellers can create suspense and emotional investment in their narratives.
Y: The Last Man.
One of the best examples of a mystery box story in the comic book world is Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra.
Even though the series has been out for nearly 20 years, I’ll tread lightly in describing it, so that if you haven’t read it, you can without spoilers.
This series begins with a mystery: a catastrophic event simultaneously kills every mammal with a Y chromosome except for one man, Yorick Brown, and his pet monkey, Ampersand. The central question—why did this happen and why did Yorick and Ampersand survive?—serves as the series’s mystery box.
Throughout the series, the creators strategically reveal bits of information. Each issue provides new clues and insights into the cause of the disaster, the nature of the surviving characters, and the potential implications for the future of the world.
The beauty of the storytelling in Y: The Last Man is that as the characters are trying to unravel the mysteries, you as the reader are actively trying to understand what it all means too. Each answer or new piece of information is like a puzzle piece, revealing a larger, hidden picture that you can’t see just yet. It’s really a tremendous series and if you like mysteries, it’s probably right up your alley.
The Black Box in the Unlit Room.
While listening to Abrams’ TED Talk and thinking about Y: The Last Man, I was reminded of a concept one of my mentors shared with me a few years ago. In the world of tech startups, where I work when I’m not writing comics, there’s a big focus on agility – how fast you can grow or pivot. The agility mentality applies to the rate of learning as well. At this particular company, there was a particular focus on employee growth, which was awesome, but also daunting at times.
During a one-on-one meeting with my then-boss, he told me I was learning the product at a solid rate, but he thought I could be advancing faster. He went on to share an insightful analogy about learning that has stuck with me over the years. He compared the process of acquiring knowledge to feeling your way around a “black box in an unlit room.” When you encounter a topic you don’t know or understand, it’s like a completely unknown black box. You can’t see its shape or details, and it feels intimidating and foreign.
As you start to explore the topic by reading, doing, experimenting, and being mentored, you gradually begin to feel your way around the box. Initially, you might only understand a few aspects of it, perhaps a corner or an edge. But with continued effort and curiosity, you start to piece together a more complete picture. Each new piece of information or experience adds to your understanding, like feeling another side or corner of the box.
Over time, your knowledge grows, and you become more familiar with the shape of the black box. To become an expert on a topic is to know every detail of its shape, just as if you had fully explored and mapped out the box in the unlit room. You no longer feel around in the dark but can navigate with confidence and precision.
3 steps to knowing the box.
Using the Mystery Box / Black Box in an Unlit Room analogies, we can map out a structured approach to mastering any topic or skill. Here’s how you can navigate from initial exploration to expertise:
1. Feel the box.
Touch a corner or edge of the box—grasp basic concepts and foundational knowledge.
Begin with introductory materials: books, articles, and tutorials.
Experiment with practical applications to understand how basic principles work.
Seek mentorship or guidance to get a solid footing in the subject.
2. Explore the box.
Feel your way around more sides of the box—build on foundational knowledge.
Synthesize information from different sources and experiences.
Connect new knowledge with existing understanding to form a more cohesive view.
Reflect on your learning process and adjust your strategies as needed.
3. Know the box.
Navigate the box with confidence and precision—teach others, innovate, and contribute.
Share your expertise through teaching, writing, or speaking.
Innovate by developing new methods, theories, or applications within the field.
Contribute to the community by conducting research or participating in professional organizations.
By following this structured approach, you can transform the unknown into the known and achieve expertise in any field you choose. Each step builds on the previous one, ensuring that your learning journey is both comprehensive and sustainable.
My mystery box was, and still is, writing and storytelling. What’s the topic or skill you want to master? What’s your black box in an unlit room?
- Frank
I’m Frank Gogol, writer of comics such as Dead End Kids, No Heroine, Unborn, Power Rangers, and more. If this newsletter was interesting / helpful / entertaining…
You can also check out some back issues of the newsletter:
After credits scene.
Back in 2016, I traveled abroad for the first time at the age of 29. Having grown up very poor, seeing the world was never something I thought I’d be able to do, so on that first trip, I got bit by the travel bug hard. You could say that seeing all the world has to offer and understanding history and different cultures is one of my mystery boxes. And for most of the last decade, I’ve been privileged enough to make travel a big part of my life.
On that note two things:
First, over the long weekend, my wife and I traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii to celebrate out 10 year anniversary. The trip was wonderful for many reasons, but the highlight was checking off a big bucket list item.
On Friday, there was a new moon (aka no moon) so we drove up to the highest point of Mauna Kea volcano. At more than 6000 feet above sea level, it’s technically the highest point on earth when measured from the island’s base at the ocean floor. Near the summit, we were well above the clouds and, with no moon, the stargazing was absolutely insane. I mean, check out this photo a snagged with just my iPhone 15 Pro Max…
I thought this was pretty cool and wanted to share here.
And second, I’m taking a longer 10-day excursion to Guatemala starting on Thursday this week. Because I want to keep the quality of the newsletter high, and because I want to make the most of the trip, I won’t be posting a newsletter next week. But don’t worry, we’ll be back to the regular schedule starting the following week. Thanks for bearing with!