4 ms·

It's great that he questions everything and proposes radical new approaches, but at some point, you have to actually commit and go build something. Revolutionar

It's great that he questions everything and proposes radical new approaches, but at some point, you have to actually commit and go build something. Revolutionary ideas and spirit are not a revolution. I also have a lot of highly-opinionated grandiose ideas. Perhaps I should put up a website and start giving talks.

dkural 11y ago
You should do it and see if you have any original ideas others find truly interesting. It's hard to have genuinely new things to say. I think its fine to build, it's fine to think and share, and it's fine to do both. Why so many "Musts"? He has built very fine prototypes btw.
thetmkay 11y ago
If you inspire people to follow through and experiment with your ideas, go ahead. Don't discount the difficulty, even after coming up with a brilliant idea, to communicate that idea effectively and in a way that influences people to see its potential.
dirtyaura 11y ago
I totally disagree. For example, Edward Tufte never built some grandiose project around his ideas, but influenced thousands of people with his books, projects and talks. We might evaluate his legacy in 50 years, and it might be bigger than any single application of his ideas. Same with Victor, I think it's better that he focuses on the exploring the idea space and finds even better approaches. If his ideas are any good, there will be modern Henry Fords that will assemble teams and resources and will build businesses around his ideas. Henry Fords will potentially reap millions of dollars of profits. Bret Victor will have his legacy as a reseacher and explorer of ideas. He will never get tons of money out of his ideas, but it seems that it is the path he has deliberately chosen. His name might be mentioned in human computer interface research 100 years from now, alongside Engelbart, Kay, etc.

4 ms·

It's great that he questions everything and proposes radical new approaches, but at some point, you have to actually commit and go build something. Revolutionar

by robmccoll 11y ago

dkural 11y ago
You should do it and see if you have any original ideas others find truly interesting. It's hard to have genuinely new things to say. I think its fine to build, it's fine to think and share, and it's fine to do both. Why so many "Musts"? He has built very fine prototypes btw.
thetmkay 11y ago
If you inspire people to follow through and experiment with your ideas, go ahead. Don't discount the difficulty, even after coming up with a brilliant idea, to communicate that idea effectively and in a way that influences people to see its potential.
dirtyaura 11y ago
I totally disagree. For example, Edward Tufte never built some grandiose project around his ideas, but influenced thousands of people with his books, projects and talks. We might evaluate his legacy in 50 years, and it might be bigger than any single application of his ideas. Same with Victor, I think it's better that he focuses on the exploring the idea space and finds even better approaches. If his ideas are any good, there will be modern Henry Fords that will assemble teams and resources and will build businesses around his ideas. Henry Fords will potentially reap millions of dollars of profits. Bret Victor will have his legacy as a reseacher and explorer of ideas. He will never get tons of money out of his ideas, but it seems that it is the path he has deliberately chosen. His name might be mentioned in human computer interface research 100 years from now, alongside Engelbart, Kay, etc.