Pedal to the Metal: The Possibility Mindset

What happens when a journeyman backup guitarist stumbles onto a strange new musical technology and decides to push it to its limits? The sound of rock is changed forever—and we get a masterclass in how curiosity beats caution when new tech shows up. If you want an edge in the AI era, this is the mindset to copy.

In this video you’ll discover:
- How one fearless musician turned the wah-wah pedal’s “dying sheep noise” into pure magic
- Parallel stories of pioneers who spotted hidden potential: Richard Trevithick (steam engines), Grace Hopper (computers), and Jeff Bezos (the World-Wide Web)
- How to embrace a “possibility mindset” emphasizing curiosity and adaptability

More resources on learning with AI: https://mru.org/courses/everyday-economics/learning-with-ai

Missed Part 1 of the AI Mindset series? Watch “200 Years of Tech Panics” here: https://youtu.be/7-RzQxuBsQ0

This video was produced in partnership with the Institute for Global Affairs (https://instituteforglobalaffairs.org/), a nonprofit research organization that works to increase awareness and understanding of geopolitics and global affairs.

♪ [music] ♪

- [Narrator] This is a story
of three guitarists in the 1960s

and how one embraced technology
to change music forever.

And if you listen closely,

you'll hear a lesson
reverberating into the present.

When faced with something
new and revolutionary,

do you embrace it or dismiss it?

♪ [music] ♪

Our story begins in the 1950s,

as rock and roll
explodes onto the scene.

Rock guitars of that era
sound like this...

♪ [fast rock music] ♪

...or this:

- [Elvis] ♪ You ain't nothin'
but a hound dog ♪

♪ cryin' all the time ♪

- [Narrator] But by 1967,

the sound of rock and roll
is about to change.

That's when Vox Amps
releases the wah-wah pedal,

a device that could make
a guitar...

♪ [guitar picking] ♪

...sing like a trumpet.

♪ [trumpet sound] ♪

Instead of...

♪ [guitar music] ♪

...your guitar can sound like...

♪ [distorted rock] ♪

Pretty cool, right?

As a promotional tool,

Vox Amps gives the wah-wah pedal
to our first guitarist,

Johnny Echols.

He plays lead guitar in Love,

♪ [rock music] ♪

a popular rock and roll band.

Echols gives the pedal a try.

But instead of hearing a trumpet,

♪ [trumpet] ♪

or even a guitar,

♪ [guitar] ♪

all he hears is the wails
of dying sheep.

[sheep bleating]

So he dismisses the pedal.

Our second guitarist
is Jimmy James,

a friend of Echols
and a backup guitar player.

Echols describes Jimmy James
as a journeyman.

He carries equipment

and plays bit parts
in Little Richard's stage shows.

Jimmy James
never finished high school,

but he's a lifelong learner
and an avid sci-fi reader.

So when he gets his hands
on a wah-wah pedal,

he's much more eager
than Echols to try it out.

And what about our third guitarist?

You might know him better
as Jimi Hendrix.

Hendrix gains fame
in the late 1960s

for his incredible play

and never-been-done-before
far-out sound.

♪ [rock music] ♪

Audiences can't stop raving.

He is the greatest guitar player
in the world.

[audience cheering]

Echols goes
to a Jimi Hendrix concert

to see what all the fuss is about.

When Hendrix steps to the stage,
Echols can't believe it.

Yes, Jimi Hendrix is indeed,
as advertised,

the greatest guitar player
in the world.

But what he truly can't believe

is that Jimi Hendrix
is Jimmy James!

The journeyman he once knew

had transformed himself
into a musical powerhouse

by relentlessly embracing
and practicing with new technology.

Hendrix was among the first
to use the Vox wah-wah pedal,

the fuzz tone pedal,
and the Marshall amp.

He went so far as to hire
an engineer to modify pedals,

achieving even wilder sounds.

Echol's initial reaction
to the wah-wah pedal is natural.

New technology can be overwhelming,

and in the short term,

it feels easier to dismiss it.

Think about new inventions
from the past

and the visionaries
who embraced them.

Take the steam engine.

While many saw it as just a tool
for pumping water out of mines,

engineer Richard Trevithick
saw something more.

What if these machines
could carry us further

than any horse?

Through relentless experimentation,

he created the first
steam-powered locomotive in 1804,

carving the path
for the railroad revolution.

This same spirit of embracing
new technology

emerged again
with the birth of computing.

As a Navy Lieutenant
in World War II,

Grace Hopper worked

with one of the world's
first computers,

a room-sized machine
computing endless equations

for naval weapons and equipment.

While others just saw
a massive calculator,

Hopper envisioned computers
doing much more.

Her pioneering work on compilers
and programming languages

helped transform computers
from specialized machines

into platforms
for creating the software

that powers today's world.

As the Internet emerged,

another opportunity arose

for those willing to embrace
something new.

Working on Wall Street,

Jeff Bezos noticed web usage
doubling every few months.

While others saw a way
to send emails,

he envisioned a global marketplace

where anyone could buy anything,

anywhere.

Starting with just selling books
from his garage,

he built Amazon into a company

that transformed
how the world shops.

Those who embraced change
shaped the future.

We don't know for sure
what a future with AI looks like,

but what we do know

is that you can either
embrace technology

and work with it,

or you can dismiss technology
and work against it.

The right mindset,

one of curiosity, adaptability,

and a willingness
to embrace the unknown,

turns new technology
into an opportunity for innovation.

♪ [rock music] ♪

It's this mindset that transforms
Jimmy James, the journeyman,

into Jimi Hendrix, the legend.

♪ [rock music] ♪

If you are a teacher,

you should check out
our free unit plan

that uses this video.

If you are a student,

visit the links in the description

for more resources
on how to use AI to learn.

Or if you are just curious
to watch more videos like this,

check out this playlist.