I'm always amazed at the amount of detail involved in what would otherwise seem like an ordinary job or activity.  In that respect, there's no such thing as ordinary.  Everything has a science built around it, and the people who work these jobs and do these activities every day are essentially scientists in their specific field. 

One example is a friend of mine who owns a turkey farm.  They butcher their turkeys and sell them in their little farm store.  The most recent bit of science came out when talking about the upcoming turkey-eating season.  Every year, Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November.  This year, November 1 is a Thursday, so Thanksgiving is officially the earliest it can be.  This equates to an especially busy turkey-buying season because Thanksgiving seems to come around quicker than normal.  And for turkey farmers, this means trouble because people will wait until the last minute to order a turkey, and then they'll be mad when they can't get it right away.  This seems like a simple thing, but coupled with all the other turkey farmer wisdom I've heard over the last few years, it makes me realize that not just anyone can be a turkey farmer.  The person who says, "That doesn't sound too hard ... I could be a turkey farmer" is actually quite out of their league. 

It's the same with sports like golf.  Golf seems pretty simple:  Hit a ball into a hole.  But there's an elementary science about how to hit the ball, which club to use at what distance, how to putt on a sloped green, and things like that.  And once you get past that, there's an intermediate science about head placement while hitting the ball, grip tightness, arm angles, foot placement, and things like that.  There's probably also an advanced science, but I haven't made it that far.  It probably has something to do with ball dimples, tee material, and emotional preparation.  It wouldn't surprise me. 

I used to work at a pharmaceutical company, and that's where I learned how much thought goes into making such seemingly simple things.  For example, the company made pills.  To make the pills, they mixed powders together, then they put the mixture into a pill press.  After that, it went to a coating chamber where the pill was sprayed with various chemicals to make it stay together and to aid in digestion.  Then it went into packaging where it traveled over several series of conveyor belts, got sealed in blister packs, put into little boxes, put into bigger boxes, then put on a pallet and shrink-wrapped.  At each step of the manufacturing process, there were layers and layers of details that I can't even begin to understand or remember.  Hundreds of people worked on the process, and hundreds more scientists, engineers, and mechanics came up with the process and made sure it worked.  There was so much complication in the process, it was easy to forget we were just in the business of making pills. #psychology