5 ms·

The problem with "follow your passion" isn't with techie entrepreneurial types. The problem is the choices inflicted on millions of teenagers and university stu

The problem with "follow your passion" isn't with techie entrepreneurial types. The problem is the choices inflicted on millions of teenagers and university students by parents who grew up in the anti-scientific 60s and 70s, and who want their children to do arty subjects because they think that to do otherwise is to succumb to the evil capitalist squid, and because they think you still just need to have a degree in any subject from a good university to have a good career in some honorable non-STEM area.

JKCalhoun 10y ago
I don't know — I pursued engineering and am ultimately not passionate about it. Going to work every day is often a drag. Why do I want my kids to make that same choice? Only for financial reasons. Only.
- Myrmornis 10y ago
  They could study evolutionary biology or particle physics or molecular genetics or like anything in the sciences that has enters a really meaningful intellectual world rather than just being aimed at the private sector. But there are awesome and very honorable things your kids could do with engineering too.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  I pursued engineering too, and I love doing certain engineering jobs. But going to work every day IS a drag, and I'm almost never passionate about what I work on for money. It'd be great if I could work on programming and engineering projects of my own choosing, on things that I think are really interesting. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way. If your kids are smart enough to engineering but aren't drawn to it, and just want to make money, they should pursue medicine or business or finance instead. If you don't care about engineering work, don't go into this field; there's other fields for people who have no passion for their work, and finance is a really big one in the US. You'll make more money, you won't work in a workplace that's a sausagefest, you'll have a much easier and more fun time in college, and you'll get to live in much better cities when you're working.
  - pipio21 10y ago
    I don't know. Financial industry is a big bubble in the US right now. It has been a great ride for those that lived it. But when the bubble pops people are going to handle pitchforks against anything resembling "financial" on its name. Already happened in the 1930s and a little in 2008.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
      [shrug] Then ride the bubble until it pops and look for something else after that. Sometimes you really need to live in the moment.
kafkaesq 10y ago
Not sure what you're basing that on. I hang with a fairly "arty" crowd, and can't think of a single parent among them who thinks that way.
pipio21 10y ago
I believe the main driver for "follow your passions" are not anti scientific parents, but scientific parents that regret having wasted their entire life doing something they hated doing like medicine or engineering.

JKCalhoun 10y ago

I don't know — I pursued engineering and am ultimately not passionate about it. Going to work every day is often a drag. Why do I want my kids to make that same choice? Only for financial reasons. Only.

Myrmornis 10y ago
They could study evolutionary biology or particle physics or molecular genetics or like anything in the sciences that has enters a really meaningful intellectual world rather than just being aimed at the private sector. But there are awesome and very honorable things your kids could do with engineering too.
Grishnakh 10y ago
I pursued engineering too, and I love doing certain engineering jobs. But going to work every day IS a drag, and I'm almost never passionate about what I work on for money. It'd be great if I could work on programming and engineering projects of my own choosing, on things that I think are really interesting. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way. If your kids are smart enough to engineering but aren't drawn to it, and just want to make money, they should pursue medicine or business or finance instead. If you don't care about engineering work, don't go into this field; there's other fields for people who have no passion for their work, and finance is a really big one in the US. You'll make more money, you won't work in a workplace that's a sausagefest, you'll have a much easier and more fun time in college, and you'll get to live in much better cities when you're working.
- pipio21 10y ago
  I don't know. Financial industry is a big bubble in the US right now. It has been a great ride for those that lived it. But when the bubble pops people are going to handle pitchforks against anything resembling "financial" on its name. Already happened in the 1930s and a little in 2008.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
    [shrug] Then ride the bubble until it pops and look for something else after that. Sometimes you really need to live in the moment.

kafkaesq 10y ago

Not sure what you're basing that on. I hang with a fairly "arty" crowd, and can't think of a single parent among them who thinks that way.

pipio21 10y ago

I believe the main driver for "follow your passions" are not anti scientific parents, but scientific parents that regret having wasted their entire life doing something they hated doing like medicine or engineering.