# Connect the dots backwards > Paths, mixing disciplines, learning as a lifelong skill, and why to read this on paper. 14 panels. Status: draft · By: gen-z.journalist, 18 October 2026, from Dinis's memo on paths and learning · 14 panels *Drawn at ; the data is [storyboard.json](storyboard.json), the cast [cast.json](../cast.json).* *Every line the Guide says, and every quote card, is Dinis's words from the article 'Connect the dots backwards', word for word, including the Jobs quote as the article gives it; the build checks it.* ## 1. Connect the dots backwards *cover* Your path only makes sense looking back. Learn to walk it anyway. - **Zara** (think, thinking) - **Priya** (stand, worried) - **Tomás** (stand, thinking) - **The Guide** (wave, happy) The paths topic. *Source: Connect the dots backwards* ## 2. Steve Jobs, Stanford, 2005 *scene* - **Zara** (think, worried) thinks: “I can't see where any of this goes.” - **The Guide** (point, happy) says: “you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards” The sentence from the 2005 commencement address, as the article quotes it. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, Connect the dots backwards* ## 3. His dots, connected backwards *spectrum* - **The Guide** (point, happy) Drops out (of college) → Calligraphy (a class for no reason) → Ten years (nothing connects) → The Mac (its typography) Jobs's own example, from the same address: a discipline nobody would put on a programmer's syllabus. *Source: Steve Jobs, Stanford, 12 June 2005* ## 4. The edge *scene* - **The Guide** (point, determined) says: “it is the multidisciplinary person who has the edge” Props: board (the humanities / mathematics / music / code / ...and where they meet) Not chaos, not every direction at once; it looks different for an explorer, a villager and a town planner. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, The edge is multidisciplinary* ## 5. How we teach maths *scene, setting: classroom* - **Tomás** (shrug, worried) says: “Just memorise the formula?” - **The Guide** (point, worried) says: “we give the solution away” Paul Lockhart's A Mathematician's Lament: no wonder, no struggle, no creativity. The same with music. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, We teach maths as if to make people hate it* ## 6. What just happened while writing this book *scene* - **The Agent** (wave, happy) says: “Instead of infographics, shall I draw you a cast?” - **Zara** (arms-up, surprised) Dinis asked for something better than infographics; this storyboard is the answer, drawing itself. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, Generative AI lets you explore again* ## 7. The beauty of it *evidence* - **The Guide** (point, happy) > “you can now discover how you like to work” > > Source: Connect the dots backwards This is about you: how you like to learn, to take in information, to get lost. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, This is about you* ## 8. When it feels like too much *scene, setting: office* - **Priya** (shrug, worried) says: “It's too much. Where do I even start?” - **The Guide** (stand, happy) says: “Let your questions guide you, and learn.” Experiment, try, start, adjust. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, This is about you* ## 9. Geography no longer decides *scene, setting: street* - **Zara** (point, happy) - **The Guide** (point, determined) says: “The future is decentralised.” Props: phone A connection and, less and less, some compute: local, sovereign. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, Learning is a lifelong skill* ## 10. Take it seriously *punchline* > **Learning is a skill, and a lifelong one.** - **Tomás** (stand, determined) The article: learning is a skill, and you need to take it very seriously, because it is a lifelong one. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, Learning is a lifelong skill* ## 11. You, reading this *scene* - **Zara** (stand, surprised) - **Priya** (stand, happy) - **Tomás** (stand, thinking) - **The Guide** (point, happy) says: “just by reading this book, you are already in a very small minority” Deciding to spend the time is already the advantage. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, You are already in a small minority* ## 12. Read it on paper, with a pen *scene* - **Zara** (sit, thinking) - **The Guide** (point, happy) says: “books, and narratives, are still the best way we have to take in information” Props: desk, book (this book) Focus is a skill. The 2018 book had Books and Pen and Paper; the advice stands. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, Read it on paper, with a pen* ## 13. Trust your own way of thinking *scene* - **The Guide** (think, thinking) says: “My thinking is very hyperlinked: I think in graphs.” - **Zara** (think, thinking) thinks: “Mine jumps around too.” Different minds, different paths; follow your curiosity and learn every day. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, I think in graphs* ## 14. From answers to questions (the next article) *punchline* > **Search gave us answers. Now you can ask for the evidence.** - **The Agent** (think, thinking) - **Zara** (point, determined) Generative AI lets you question, go deeper and ask for evidence; the next co-written article. *Source: Connect the dots backwards, From answers to questions*