3 ms·

Well it's like that story of Colonel H. McMaster, who DID technically find "one weird trick", and the Army DID pass him over for promotions, etc... I'm not for

Well it's like that story of Colonel H. McMaster, who DID technically find "one weird trick", and the Army DID pass him over for promotions, etc... I'm not for or against Soylent, and I usually find this kind of advertising annoying, but it's also entirely possible that people further down the chain of command in any system discover things that people higher-up won't or can't. That's part of the entire premise of why startups work, no?

namdnay 13y ago
> people further down the chain of command in any system Here we're talking about people who aren't even in the same system!
- julius 13y ago
  Einstein was a patent office guy. Yet his notable weird tricks (like constant speed of light) aren't even in the same system.
  - jerf 13y ago
    Yeah, a "patent office guy" who knew nothing about physics at all until he suddenly overturned the entire world through sheer force of will. Certainly not a guy who already wanted to be a physics teacher with all the requisite training and credentials, including published papers in prestigious journals in his first year of working in the patent office, but had to find a job to make money in the meantime while he searched for one. Einstein was someone who went up the academic course for physics, but had a brief detour during a jobless interval. I imagine many of us here can relate to that. He's not some sort of quintessential outsider. (He's not a quintessential insider either; while the rumors about his poor grades are overstated, he did have a rough relationship with any academic subject he didn't really care about. He certainly wasn't the valedictorian type or a groomed, perfect academic from tip to toe. But neither was he an outsider. He's just an average everyday genius who combined tons of hard work with immense native talent.)
    - mimiflynn 13y ago
      Exactly, just like all the barista's and waiters / waitresses that became doctors and lawyers ;)
pbhjpbhj 13y ago
Re McMasters - I think the parent refers to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._McMaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._McMaster and the change from daily location in Tal Afar to permanent location there.

namdnay 13y ago

> people further down the chain of command in any system Here we're talking about people who aren't even in the same system!

julius 13y ago
Einstein was a patent office guy. Yet his notable weird tricks (like constant speed of light) aren't even in the same system.
- jerf 13y ago
  Yeah, a "patent office guy" who knew nothing about physics at all until he suddenly overturned the entire world through sheer force of will. Certainly not a guy who already wanted to be a physics teacher with all the requisite training and credentials, including published papers in prestigious journals in his first year of working in the patent office, but had to find a job to make money in the meantime while he searched for one. Einstein was someone who went up the academic course for physics, but had a brief detour during a jobless interval. I imagine many of us here can relate to that. He's not some sort of quintessential outsider. (He's not a quintessential insider either; while the rumors about his poor grades are overstated, he did have a rough relationship with any academic subject he didn't really care about. He certainly wasn't the valedictorian type or a groomed, perfect academic from tip to toe. But neither was he an outsider. He's just an average everyday genius who combined tons of hard work with immense native talent.)
  - mimiflynn 13y ago
    Exactly, just like all the barista's and waiters / waitresses that became doctors and lawyers ;)

pbhjpbhj 13y ago

Re McMasters - I think the parent refers to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._McMaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._McMaster and the change from daily location in Tal Afar to permanent location there.