grad school goals
One of my goals for grad school is to actually read the sweet links util posts all the time.
Another is to learn Scala and take some math courses again to get me brain working.
There are a ton of other goals like this. None of them involve writing a PhD thesis, per se. Many of them involve learning something esoteric and of dubious practical importance, which I expect will be easier to devote time to in school than at full time job but I guess I can never be sure.
I was told recently: "There are three kinds of people in the world. There's the filthy rich people who call all the shots and can do whatever they want. Then there are the drones, who do work day in and out and don't go anywhere. Then there are the entrepreneurs." He set aside athletes and software developers for some reason as their own category.
When I graduated from college my intention was to take some time away from school and try to do something badass before going back into academia, on the grounds that the best professors were ones who had something badass up their sleeve. Gives a sense of perspective not otherwise had by all academics, who might otherwise overestimate the impact of their work.
Ok, so now I feel like I've done something badass. And ok, it's given me a sense of perspective.
Here's that perspective: there's lots of categories people want to put other people into. "Academic" is one of those categories. "Activist" is another one of those categories. "Software developer." "Sales guy." "Bureaucrat." "Middle manager."
Most people want the people they work with to fit into these categories, because it makes their life easier. But that means ceding authenticity or autonomy to external ideas of who you are. In fact, to innovate--to express yourself, if you've truly got an original seed inside you--you have to break those categories.
This will be uncomfortable for some people around you, since it means that they won't have a grip on what you're doing. They can win you over, but that takes the work of actually convincing you to follow them, or finding out how to align your interests. If they can't do that, then you won't be useful to them. The only way they can control you then is to try to silence you or keep you in the dark.
But the people that understand that you are using your head will respect you as a free agent. They will ask you for your input to get shared goals, rather than expect you to act under and imposed vision or idea. And they won't ask you to define yourself in terms of existing categories but rather encourage you to define your own, to challenge the expectations others will build around you.
Being free, and being with free people, means being able to trust people without being able to predict them. It means not building any assumptions into plans that don't come from the Will of those involved. And it means having the strength to work alone, while people don't understand what you're doing or why, until you've done it.
I don't yet know what I'm going to do at grad school. I'll probably find some way to be an entrepreneur.
Another is to learn Scala and take some math courses again to get me brain working.
There are a ton of other goals like this. None of them involve writing a PhD thesis, per se. Many of them involve learning something esoteric and of dubious practical importance, which I expect will be easier to devote time to in school than at full time job but I guess I can never be sure.
I was told recently: "There are three kinds of people in the world. There's the filthy rich people who call all the shots and can do whatever they want. Then there are the drones, who do work day in and out and don't go anywhere. Then there are the entrepreneurs." He set aside athletes and software developers for some reason as their own category.
When I graduated from college my intention was to take some time away from school and try to do something badass before going back into academia, on the grounds that the best professors were ones who had something badass up their sleeve. Gives a sense of perspective not otherwise had by all academics, who might otherwise overestimate the impact of their work.
Ok, so now I feel like I've done something badass. And ok, it's given me a sense of perspective.
Here's that perspective: there's lots of categories people want to put other people into. "Academic" is one of those categories. "Activist" is another one of those categories. "Software developer." "Sales guy." "Bureaucrat." "Middle manager."
Most people want the people they work with to fit into these categories, because it makes their life easier. But that means ceding authenticity or autonomy to external ideas of who you are. In fact, to innovate--to express yourself, if you've truly got an original seed inside you--you have to break those categories.
This will be uncomfortable for some people around you, since it means that they won't have a grip on what you're doing. They can win you over, but that takes the work of actually convincing you to follow them, or finding out how to align your interests. If they can't do that, then you won't be useful to them. The only way they can control you then is to try to silence you or keep you in the dark.
But the people that understand that you are using your head will respect you as a free agent. They will ask you for your input to get shared goals, rather than expect you to act under and imposed vision or idea. And they won't ask you to define yourself in terms of existing categories but rather encourage you to define your own, to challenge the expectations others will build around you.
Being free, and being with free people, means being able to trust people without being able to predict them. It means not building any assumptions into plans that don't come from the Will of those involved. And it means having the strength to work alone, while people don't understand what you're doing or why, until you've done it.
I don't yet know what I'm going to do at grad school. I'll probably find some way to be an entrepreneur.