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Wanting to be engineer #5549383 at a big company is a fools errand if you want recognition and reknowned. It's like trying to get famous working as the guy who

Wanting to be engineer #5549383 at a big company is a fools errand if you want recognition and reknowned. It's like trying to get famous working as the guy who bolts the doors onto the frame at the Belvedere assembly plant. The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the mouse. All of the people cited in the article (Gates, Musk, Jobs) eschewed "prestige institutions" and worked on what they wanted to work on. They're incidentally famous because of their success in other areas. The Kardashians are famous for being famous. Which do you really want?

0x445442 7y ago
Of course the risk is that working on what you want to may not ever put bread on the table. There's heavy confirmation bios in play here as you only hear about the Gates', Musk's and Jobs'. The optimal approach for most is probably to do their level best at their day job and work on what they want to in their spare time. And perhaps, with luck and time, the knowledge and skills developed in the spare time can be leveraged to put bread on the table.
nickthemagicman 7y ago
Gates Musk and Jobs all came from rich families and were able to work on what they wanted to work on. The people going for prestigious institutions may actually need a job and and are optimizing for the best possible outcome.
- paulgb 7y ago
  Also, I think Jobs is the only one who could really be said to eschew prestige institutuons. Gates went to Harvard and Musk went to Wharton (and Queen's, which is the Canadian equivalent of ivy-league).
  - glitchc 7y ago
    Queen’s is far from the Canadian equivalent of “Ivy League.” You must be from Queen’s.
    - paulgb 7y ago
      Ha, far from it, I went to Waterloo. Not that I bought into rivalries, but if we had one it was Queen's The comparison in this context was that Queen's has a reputation for attracting status-seeking people banking on a management consulting career path.
  - huffmsa 7y ago
    I didn't mention their schooling. I only care about where they didn't work.
- wenc 7y ago
  Gates did. Not sure either Musk or Jobs had rich families. You may want to check that.
  - fybe 7y ago
    Musk's family owned an emerald mine in south africa
    - johnsimer 7y ago
      Nope, that business insider article had no sources, and according to Musk is false
  - pretendscholar 7y ago
    >Not sure either Musk or Jobs had rich families. You may want to check that. Doesn't that mean you should be the one checking?
  - sir_kin 7y ago
    Musk 100% comes from wealth [1]. In America, there's the whole mythos of the rags-to-riches American dream. Some people whose story is really riches-to-more-riches present their success as the former. [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-dad-tells-bi-about-the-familys-casual-attitude-to-wealth-2018-2/commerce-on-business-insider https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-dad-tells-bi-abou...
    - bluedevilzn 7y ago
      Elon recently confirmed that this store is not true on twitter. It's inside a reply thread so can't find the source at the moment.
  - bsanr2 7y ago
    Doing your homework for you: Jobs had an unusually international background; was born to highly-educated parents who made sure he went to a suitable family when they put him up for adoption; grew up in a relatively wealthy, highly-educated community that was the hotbed of a nascent industry; and was able to do drugs, an experience here considered life-altering, without being arrested or sent to jail. I know the word "privilege" is anathema here, but it applies, even if neither his biological nor adoptive parents were necessarily rolling in dough.
asdfman123 7y ago
Neither, thanks.
jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
>The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the mouse. This is from game of thrones. Also, former FL Sheriff Scott Israel used that quote in a courtroom after a judge had called him negligent.
- huffmsa 7y ago
  No, the game of thrones variant was the opinions of sheep. Which is foolish because the lion should care about his food. It's also not originally from thrones. It goes back to Aesop. Thanks for playing though.

0x445442 7y ago

Of course the risk is that working on what you want to may not ever put bread on the table. There's heavy confirmation bios in play here as you only hear about the Gates', Musk's and Jobs'. The optimal approach for most is probably to do their level best at their day job and work on what they want to in their spare time. And perhaps, with luck and time, the knowledge and skills developed in the spare time can be leveraged to put bread on the table.

nickthemagicman 7y ago

Gates Musk and Jobs all came from rich families and were able to work on what they wanted to work on. The people going for prestigious institutions may actually need a job and and are optimizing for the best possible outcome.

paulgb 7y ago
Also, I think Jobs is the only one who could really be said to eschew prestige institutuons. Gates went to Harvard and Musk went to Wharton (and Queen's, which is the Canadian equivalent of ivy-league).
- glitchc 7y ago
  Queen’s is far from the Canadian equivalent of “Ivy League.” You must be from Queen’s.
  - paulgb 7y ago
    Ha, far from it, I went to Waterloo. Not that I bought into rivalries, but if we had one it was Queen's The comparison in this context was that Queen's has a reputation for attracting status-seeking people banking on a management consulting career path.
- huffmsa 7y ago
  I didn't mention their schooling. I only care about where they didn't work.
wenc 7y ago
Gates did. Not sure either Musk or Jobs had rich families. You may want to check that.
- fybe 7y ago
  Musk's family owned an emerald mine in south africa
  - johnsimer 7y ago
    Nope, that business insider article had no sources, and according to Musk is false
- pretendscholar 7y ago
  >Not sure either Musk or Jobs had rich families. You may want to check that. Doesn't that mean you should be the one checking?
- sir_kin 7y ago
  Musk 100% comes from wealth [1]. In America, there's the whole mythos of the rags-to-riches American dream. Some people whose story is really riches-to-more-riches present their success as the former. [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-dad-tells-bi-about-the-familys-casual-attitude-to-wealth-2018-2/commerce-on-business-insider https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-dad-tells-bi-abou...
  - bluedevilzn 7y ago
    Elon recently confirmed that this store is not true on twitter. It's inside a reply thread so can't find the source at the moment.
- bsanr2 7y ago
  Doing your homework for you: Jobs had an unusually international background; was born to highly-educated parents who made sure he went to a suitable family when they put him up for adoption; grew up in a relatively wealthy, highly-educated community that was the hotbed of a nascent industry; and was able to do drugs, an experience here considered life-altering, without being arrested or sent to jail. I know the word "privilege" is anathema here, but it applies, even if neither his biological nor adoptive parents were necessarily rolling in dough.

asdfman123 7y ago

Neither, thanks.

jacobwilliamroy 7y ago

>The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the mouse. This is from game of thrones. Also, former FL Sheriff Scott Israel used that quote in a courtroom after a judge had called him negligent.

huffmsa 7y ago
No, the game of thrones variant was the opinions of sheep. Which is foolish because the lion should care about his food. It's also not originally from thrones. It goes back to Aesop. Thanks for playing though.