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I'm late to this party, so I'll give you two quick pointers: "You and Your Research" by Richard Hamming [0], and "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" [1] Read

I'm late to this party, so I'll give you two quick pointers: "You and Your Research" by Richard Hamming [0], and "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" [1] Read both in their entirety. You will gain a new perspective on those who make great achievements. They experience the same self-doubt you do! Feynman notes in dismay that other researchers at Los Alamos effortlessly solved problems mentally after he'd spend days working out the solution. He also mentions when he starts in academia, he was overwhelmed by an academic paper being discussed at a conference because he didn't understand it. Richard Hamming notes a few extra pressures, specifically the pressure to solve great problems instead of small problems, and how this pressure ruins your work Both books have similar lessons. Feynman says it implicitly, and Hamming says it explicitly: Keep modern, work with others, understand the twists and turns of your field, think about the future, and solve the small problems. You can't force yourself to do great things, but you can stack the deck in your favor. [0] http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html [1] http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Character/dp/0393316041 http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Char...

mechanical_fish 16y ago
I'm even later to the party so I'll just cite Ira Glass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE All of us who do creative work... we get into it because we have good taste. And it's like there's a gap... for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good. But your taste is still killer... it's good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of a disappointment to you... A lot of people never get past that phase. A lot of people, at that point, they quit. And the thing I would say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years [like this].... the most important thing you can do is to do a lot of work. It's only by going through a volume of work that you are going to catch up and close that gap. Et cetera. Somewhat to my chagrin, this video never gets old.
- noonespecial 16y ago
  I'm actually really afraid of closing the gap. What if I get to the point that I'm really pleased with what I've made. That's the end. I can't grow past that point and likely, what I make still sucks on the grand scale.
sr3d 16y ago
Thanks for the link to the "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" book. I just bought a used copy for $7. I'm running out of good stuff to read, and I love getting good book recommendations from people. Hopefully it'll be a great read.

mechanical_fish 16y ago

I'm even later to the party so I'll just cite Ira Glass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE All of us who do creative work... we get into it because we have good taste. And it's like there's a gap... for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good. But your taste is still killer... it's good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of a disappointment to you... A lot of people never get past that phase. A lot of people, at that point, they quit. And the thing I would say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years [like this].... the most important thing you can do is to do a lot of work. It's only by going through a volume of work that you are going to catch up and close that gap. Et cetera. Somewhat to my chagrin, this video never gets old.

noonespecial 16y ago
I'm actually really afraid of closing the gap. What if I get to the point that I'm really pleased with what I've made. That's the end. I can't grow past that point and likely, what I make still sucks on the grand scale.

sr3d 16y ago

Thanks for the link to the "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" book. I just bought a used copy for $7. I'm running out of good stuff to read, and I love getting good book recommendations from people. Hopefully it'll be a great read.