---
title: "Frog kissing"
description: "Dean Kamen's approach to deciding between more attempts and stopping."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-third-door/frog-kissing/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Frog kissing

> Dean Kamen's approach to deciding between more attempts and stopping.

Alex Banayan's framework, from The Third Door, pp. 134 to 186.

Framework 8 of 11 from [The Third Door](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-third-door/index.md) by Alex Banayan. Category: Life and thinking.

## The steps

1. **Keep kissing frogs.** Every frog is a different way to solve the problem, and tenacity eventually finds the prince.
2. **Check if it is impossible.** Ask whether the problem breaks a fundamental law, since proving it cannot be done lets you quit without feeling like a coward.
3. **Count the kinds of frogs.** There may be billions of frogs but only a few kinds, so try one of each kind.
4. **Restate the boundaries.** Reframe the question so a different kind of solution appears.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Step 4: Trudge Through the Mud, pp. 134–186

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/frog-kissing.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/frog-kissing-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/frog-kissing.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/frog-kissing-dark.png