In my view, a lot of the lack of “low hanging fruit” many people see is working in the wrong field. Some fields (for example, computer science) are extremely saturated with very bright people. As Lumifer suggested, sampling different potential interests is a reasonable strategy. I’ve been surprised by the random things that turned out to be fascinating to me.
Many opportunities exist in fields where certain knowledge is useful but rare. For example, there are many fields where math and coding knowledge could make a big impact. I know someone who got a PhD in math and then started working on problems related to fire protection. The specific application is not so critical, but the rarity of their ability in that field is. They seem to love their job, and I think this is a generally useful strategy. You just need to find fields in the intersection of problems of sufficient interest to you and problems your skills and knowledge can help solve. Some other examples: math and programming knowledge could be super useful in psychology and medicine.
Part of the problem here is a hidden constraint that I see from many people. Many smart people seem to believe many fields are below them, and they won’t consider them because of this. You should see the fields that other people are avoiding for this reason as opportunities.
In terms of finding these sorts of opportunities, I don’t think there’s a good general procedure other than seeing how your current knowledge could fit into any field you encounter, and taking action when you see opportunity.
In my view, a lot of the lack of “low hanging fruit” many people see is working in the wrong field. Some fields (for example, computer science) are extremely saturated with very bright people. As Lumifer suggested, sampling different potential interests is a reasonable strategy. I’ve been surprised by the random things that turned out to be fascinating to me.
Many opportunities exist in fields where certain knowledge is useful but rare. For example, there are many fields where math and coding knowledge could make a big impact. I know someone who got a PhD in math and then started working on problems related to fire protection. The specific application is not so critical, but the rarity of their ability in that field is. They seem to love their job, and I think this is a generally useful strategy. You just need to find fields in the intersection of problems of sufficient interest to you and problems your skills and knowledge can help solve. Some other examples: math and programming knowledge could be super useful in psychology and medicine.
Part of the problem here is a hidden constraint that I see from many people. Many smart people seem to believe many fields are below them, and they won’t consider them because of this. You should see the fields that other people are avoiding for this reason as opportunities.
In terms of finding these sorts of opportunities, I don’t think there’s a good general procedure other than seeing how your current knowledge could fit into any field you encounter, and taking action when you see opportunity.