The act of skipping a rock across a lake is not as simple as a casual observer might believe. The rock’s dancing motion is the result of complex dynamics that scientists are still struggling to understand. Empirical modeling published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics suggests that to maximize the number of skips, a rock should be thrown at approximately a 20-degree attack angle. However, the world record holder for rock skipping, Kurt Steiner, does not use this approach; his throw of 88 skips was achieved with a 30-degree attack angle. This article explores why physicists might want to incorporate human factors, like Steiner’s awareness of nature and its properties, when they are trying to explain how the universe works.