Human mind fascinates me.
It is incredibly powerful when given solid information and context. But when the data is incomplete, it tends to do something else:
It fills the gaps.
Ironically, AI behaves the same way.
Both humans and LLMs are pattern-completion systems. We see fragments and instinctively try to construct the whole picture. Sometimes this works brilliantly. Sometimes it fails spectacularly.
And usually, we do not even notice it happening.
We Fill the Unknown With Ourselves
Last week I wrote a post about increasing my hourly rate to work less.
For me, contractor work is simply the mechanism that pays the bills. I want to do it efficiently, finish it, and reclaim my time afterwards.
The post was deeply anti-grind.
But because I used phrases like time optimization and systems thinking, many people unconsciously filled the missing parts with the dominant cultural narrative:
higher performance = more hustle = more grind
I never said that.
I never described how I actually spend my free time once work ends. Yet people projected an entire lifestyle onto me anyway. One person even interpreted it as “hyper-masculine energy.”
The interesting part is not that they were wrong.
The interesting part is that their minds automatically completed the missing information.
Projection Is Often Self-Revelation
I recently saw another creator on LinkedIn describing a similar experience.
People constantly send her advice as if they fully understand her life, skills, and situation — even though they only know fragments.
She mentioned that unless someone reads her full profile or sees her actual GitHub projects, their conclusions are usually off.
Again:
the mind fills the gaps.
And what fills those gaps is often not reality, but projection.
If I borrow AI terminology for a moment:
Human beings tend to overfit the curve.
LLM researchers know exactly what I mean.
Awareness Changes Everything
At first glance, projection looks like a flaw.
And sometimes it is.
But once we become aware of this mechanism, it becomes something else entirely:
a source of insight.
Projection often reveals more about the observer than about the observed.
The moment we realize this tendency exists, we gain distance from it. We stop confusing our interpretation with reality.
That awareness is one of the reasons I wrote this article.
Mythic Marketing
Now comes the interesting part.
Human beings do not merely tolerate incomplete information.
We enjoy it.
The brain loves unresolved patterns.
This is why mystery works so well in storytelling and marketing.
Imagine a dark silhouette and a simple sentence:
“The storm is coming soon.”
Suddenly the mind activates.
People start building theories, narratives, expectations, emotions. They discuss possibilities with others. They begin constructing meaning.
And here is the fascinating part:
What people imagine is often far more powerful than reality itself.
I call this principle mythic marketing.
Not manipulation through deception — but intentional space for imagination, symbolism, and participation.
This is one of the ideas I definitely want to explore further in future Storia Talks.
And now…
I will leave the remaining gaps for your mind to fill.
