November 22, 1963

At 8:00 we were all up. Our pre-ordered breakfast arrived shortly after, and we all ate in silence, running through our scripts and asking ourselves what-if questions. By 9:00 we had wheeled the food cart back into the hall and were making our last bathroom stops and loading our file cases and backpacks.

At 9:20 we all sat on the couches and waited in silence for 9:30, our scripted start. I think I must have looked more nervous and my friends more excited… playful, actually. They wanted to solve the mystery.

At 9:30 precisely (we had a clock sitting immediately next to us), we all looked at each other and stood.

"All right," I said. "Let's do our jobs," feeling a little like Bill Belichick. But before we'd taken one full step I added, "Let's find out what really happened."

I've long believed that seeing the goal was more important, even in games, than being some version of a guided missile. We are thinking, adaptive, goal-seeking beings.