3 ms·

What happened to changing the world?

3 points by rksprst 19y ago

rksprst 19y ago
Doesn't it seem like there are no people that are ambitious or passionate enough to believe (and do) something "big"? At least in my age group (20 year olds).
- rantfoil 19y ago
  It's not particularly easy to find for people of any age. But all the more important for you to seek out those with similar minds.
lux 19y ago
"Is there something about our culture that stifles innovation?" Many people would say yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Bloom#Closing_of_the_American_Mind http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Bloom#Closing_of_the_Amer... http://johntaylorgatto.com/underground/index.htm http://johntaylorgatto.com/underground/index.htm I was just talking about this yesterday with a friend who's a labour & delivery nurse, and she says in her experience all babies, unless there is something wrong with them, have an innate curiosity about the world around them (I think that's the core element of the tinkering/improving mindset). How many people around you at 20 years old can you say that about? So that's a quality we lose, not something we never had. Aside from the education discussion, there are certainly people with this drive still - it seems to me to be one of the core personality attributes of startup creators, for example. It just seems to be a rarely found still intact, unfortunately...
- rksprst 19y ago
  I agree, among people my age (20s) that natural curiosity is almost completely lost. But I think its more than just the education, I think its what our society rewards and punishes. People who want to "change the world" have to take a lot of risks. But yet, everything about our society (government, education, friends) seem to frown upon taking big risks and reward living safely with some 9 to 5 job. For instance, there are so many pretty good programmers in my classes. Yet not one wants to start a startup or do something significant in this world. They all simply want to get a 9 to 5 job at a Google or Microsoft. Why? Probably because its so much safer to work at Google than try to create the next Google.

3 points by rksprst 19y ago

Doesn't it seem like there are no people that are ambitious or passionate enough to believe (and do) something "big"? At least in my age group (20 year olds).

rantfoil 19y ago
It's not particularly easy to find for people of any age. But all the more important for you to seek out those with similar minds.

lux 19y ago

"Is there something about our culture that stifles innovation?" Many people would say yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Bloom#Closing_of_the_American_Mind http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Bloom#Closing_of_the_Amer... http://johntaylorgatto.com/underground/index.htm http://johntaylorgatto.com/underground/index.htm I was just talking about this yesterday with a friend who's a labour & delivery nurse, and she says in her experience all babies, unless there is something wrong with them, have an innate curiosity about the world around them (I think that's the core element of the tinkering/improving mindset). How many people around you at 20 years old can you say that about? So that's a quality we lose, not something we never had. Aside from the education discussion, there are certainly people with this drive still - it seems to me to be one of the core personality attributes of startup creators, for example. It just seems to be a rarely found still intact, unfortunately...

rksprst 19y ago
I agree, among people my age (20s) that natural curiosity is almost completely lost. But I think its more than just the education, I think its what our society rewards and punishes. People who want to "change the world" have to take a lot of risks. But yet, everything about our society (government, education, friends) seem to frown upon taking big risks and reward living safely with some 9 to 5 job. For instance, there are so many pretty good programmers in my classes. Yet not one wants to start a startup or do something significant in this world. They all simply want to get a 9 to 5 job at a Google or Microsoft. Why? Probably because its so much safer to work at Google than try to create the next Google.