This post rings true to me because it points in the same direction as many other things I’ve read on how you cultivate ideas. I’d like more people to internalise this perspective, since I suspect that one of the bad trends in the developed world is that it keeps getting easier and easier to follow incentive gradients, get sucked into an existing memeplex that stops you from thinking your own thoughts, and minimise the risks you’re exposed to. To fight back against this, ambitious people need to have in their heads some view of how uncomfortable chasing of vague ideas without immediate reward can be the best thing you can do, as a counter-narrative to the temptation of more legible opportunities.
In addition to Paul Graham’s essay that this post quotes, some good companion pieces include Ruxandra Teslo on the scarcity and importance of intellectual courage (emphasising the courage requirement), this essay (emphasising motivation and persistence), and this essay from Dan Wang (emphasising the social pulls away from the more creative paths).
This post rings true to me because it points in the same direction as many other things I’ve read on how you cultivate ideas. I’d like more people to internalise this perspective, since I suspect that one of the bad trends in the developed world is that it keeps getting easier and easier to follow incentive gradients, get sucked into an existing memeplex that stops you from thinking your own thoughts, and minimise the risks you’re exposed to. To fight back against this, ambitious people need to have in their heads some view of how uncomfortable chasing of vague ideas without immediate reward can be the best thing you can do, as a counter-narrative to the temptation of more legible opportunities.
In addition to Paul Graham’s essay that this post quotes, some good companion pieces include Ruxandra Teslo on the scarcity and importance of intellectual courage (emphasising the courage requirement), this essay (emphasising motivation and persistence), and this essay from Dan Wang (emphasising the social pulls away from the more creative paths).