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While I agree that there are professions where thinking unconventional thoughts is especially important, there's a flipside to this which is missed in this essa

While I agree that there are professions where thinking unconventional thoughts is especially important, there's a flipside to this which is missed in this essay: they're professions where being wrong is not catastrophic. VC's can invest in many startups, and a few successes can make up for a lot of failures. It's ok to be wrong a lot, if a few big successes (i.e you were right when everyone else was wrong) can make up for that. But, most professions are not like that. I don't want my surgeon, car mechanic, plumber, or accountant to be the sort who is rarely in agreement with their peers. If they are wrong half the time about things which everyone else knew the right answer to, but also half of the time they are right when everyone else is wrong, I'm still much worse off. Being unconventional is only a good thing if the consequences of being wrong are much less bad, than the benefits of being correct when others are all wrong.

imgabe 6y ago
You are missing the part about being fastidious about the truth. Nobody cares about people who are "unconventional" in a way that is at odds with reality. Conventions are merely cognitive shortcuts we use to apply previously determined knowledge. Sometimes that knowledge grows out of sync with the world, or there is a newer, better understanding of the world that represents an improvement, and we need to replace or update the convention. This is where we need unconventional thinkers to question assumptions and test new ways of doing things. Yes, even in fields like surgery and plumbing. Do you think the current state of knowledge in surgery is perfect and cannot be improved? If not, you are depending on people to question the current conventions. I promise you the first plumber who proposed the waterless urinal was met with a lot of resistance from other plumbers "That's not how we do things", "That will never work" etc. etc. It doesn't mean he's also going to design your house so that shit has to flow uphill. Nobody is proposing that you just throw out conventions at random for the sake of calling yourself unconventional.

imgabe 6y ago

You are missing the part about being fastidious about the truth. Nobody cares about people who are "unconventional" in a way that is at odds with reality. Conventions are merely cognitive shortcuts we use to apply previously determined knowledge. Sometimes that knowledge grows out of sync with the world, or there is a newer, better understanding of the world that represents an improvement, and we need to replace or update the convention. This is where we need unconventional thinkers to question assumptions and test new ways of doing things. Yes, even in fields like surgery and plumbing. Do you think the current state of knowledge in surgery is perfect and cannot be improved? If not, you are depending on people to question the current conventions. I promise you the first plumber who proposed the waterless urinal was met with a lot of resistance from other plumbers "That's not how we do things", "That will never work" etc. etc. It doesn't mean he's also going to design your house so that shit has to flow uphill. Nobody is proposing that you just throw out conventions at random for the sake of calling yourself unconventional.