Believing Impossible Things Before Breakfast
What Roger Bannister, Lewis Carroll, and the White Queen taught us about imagination
“I can’t believe that!” said Alice.
“Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.”
Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
“Through the Looking-Glass”, Lewis Carroll
The Four-Minute Mile
I am a runner. Not a “real” competitive runner, but I love going for a run a few times a week—it helps clear my mind.
About a year ago, I learned about Roger Bannister and his accomplishment of breaking the 4-minute mile—achievement that is considered one of the most significant athletic accomplishments of the 20th century.
By 1954, runners had been trying to break the 4-minute mile for almost a decade. Medical professionals, scientists and whole athletic community were beginning to believe that human physiology simply could not cross this threshold.
And yet, Roger Bannister did it. On a cold, rainy, imperfect day, on a wet track with only about 3000 spectators he did something that was considered impossible.
Astounding accomplishment.
And here is one question that I can’t stop asking myself: Why him?
What made Roger Bannister the first man in history to run a mile in under 4 minutes?
He was not the fastest in the world at the time: two years prior, in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, he came in fourth in the 1500m race. So there were at least three other people who could also have done it.
Could have—but didn’t. And he did.
So once again, why him? There has to have been something special about Roger Bannister—something more than physical ability alone.
And here is my argument: Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile because he was the only one who believed it was actually possible.
The Man Who Imagined Wonderland
But Roger Bannister was not the only one who practiced believing the impossible.
Most children and adults alike have read or at least heard of Lewis Carroll’s Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. You probably know the exact dialogue that I started this post with.
But did you know that Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, suffered from a severe lifelong stutter that he never overcame? He developed it in childhood, and it was significantly impacting his ability to speak in public.
And yet, not only did he imagine and then brought to life “Alice in Wonderland” that became a publishing sensation and a cultural phenomenon, but he also created a world for himself where his stutter did not exist—it was when he spoke to children about his book.
“When he spoke to these children, he lost his habitual stammer. He simply became one of them”, wrote Lewis Carroll’s biographer John Pudney in “Lewis Carroll and his World”.
The Recipe
It was one of many impossible things that Lewis Carroll achieved in his life. And with that in mind, White Queen’s comment about believing the impossible becomes more than just an idea—it is something that Lewis Carroll lived himself. And he gave us the recipe.
The White Queen did not just imagine impossible things—she practiced believing them. She treated it as a discipline that can be cultivated.
We need to do the same.
Imagination really is a two-step process:
First, one needs to imagine something that does not yet exist.
Second, one needs to believe that it can actually be made possible.
That is what was special about Roger Bannister’s achievement: not only was he able to imagine a man running one mile in under 4 minutes, but he also believed—despite what the world was telling him—that it was possible for a man to do it. And so he made it a life goal of his. And he accomplished it.
The New Bottleneck
Imagining, and then believing—this is what changes the world. It held true for Roger Bannister. It held true for Lewis Carroll. And it holds true today—more than ever.
We live in a crazy world. Where technology is advancing daily and artificial intelligence is redefining how humans live and work. Where information is literally at our fingertips, along with the capability to analyze and systemize it at the unprecedented speed. Where one person without a technical degree can build tools and systems in a matter of days or weeks that would’ve previously required teams of dozens or hundreds, months of work, and investments of tens or hundreds thousands of dollars.
The limit is now different. Things have changed. The bottleneck is now the human ability to imagine the impossible. And ability to believe that it can actually be possible.
Imagination is the mental freedom to conceive alternatives, generate possibilities and envision what doesn’t yet exist. The discipline of imagination is the practice of imagination paired with the practice of believing—that these possibilities can actually materialize into something real.
Because this is how the impossible becomes possible. We’ve been given the recipe—let’s use it.
I’m curious, what thoughts or ideas did this post spark for you? Please share in the comments!