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"I respect people who are resourceful and get stuff done." Does getting a college degree not count as getting stuff done? Would you rather someone list every s

"I respect people who are resourceful and get stuff done." Does getting a college degree not count as getting stuff done? Would you rather someone list every single problem set, proof, project, etc that they have done? I can vouch that a degree from some schools requires much more work/time/resourcefulness than making a couple of cool projects on github. Also, as a technologist, my ultimate goal is to push things forward. Think SpaceX, Google, Intel, or even something smaller like Lytro or projects like Google's autonomous vehicles. These technology beneath these things (cheap manufacturing, PageRank, integrated circuits, etc) isn't invented by the people who make CRUD webapps; its made by those who master a field and have some insight to vastly improve their domain. That's what changes things. Note, mentioning Apple or Facebook might seem like a counterpoint to my statement. I would argue Apple has pushed design forward in the same way Intel has pushed the semiconductor business forward. However, Facebook seemed to have no extraordinary technology at its core, but just capitalized on a hole in the market so much that it actually has changed how society functions. Also, I'm not at all discounting the hustlers who get stuff done, by I think to really change things, one must be a hustler (or know one) and also have extraordinary technology.

noahc 15y ago
I don't doubt that a degree can take much more time or work. In fact I'm sure it probably does, which is all the more reason to NOT go that route. That's awesome that you want to push things forward. We need that, but what I'm saying is that nothing is going to help you except down right resourcefulness. You're going to have to go deep and master something to do that, sure. Five years ago, I think you would have been right. The resources to get started weren't there. Today it's all changed and now resourcefulness gets you so much further than it ever has before.

noahc 15y ago

I don't doubt that a degree can take much more time or work. In fact I'm sure it probably does, which is all the more reason to NOT go that route. That's awesome that you want to push things forward. We need that, but what I'm saying is that nothing is going to help you except down right resourcefulness. You're going to have to go deep and master something to do that, sure. Five years ago, I think you would have been right. The resources to get started weren't there. Today it's all changed and now resourcefulness gets you so much further than it ever has before.