you (probably) shouldn't deprive yourself of the process of discovery
idle time to FAFO is pretty sweet :)
more often than not on my twitter tl, i come across profiles who post daily ml updates. it's clearly a trend, and i say this with all empathy and understanding, having subscribed (and participated) in this kind of content in the past.
but i'm not a fan of it.
my reason being — i think due to its nature of unconsciously prioritizing the need to showcase tangible, shareable results, it deprives one's self of the process of discovery.
on another note, i also think to experience this is very much a privilege. you must have idle time in order to undergo this process. which is why i believe it’s important to adopt this mindset as soon as possible, especially if you're young, agentic and unburdened by "adultly" duties.
i believe this frame of mind is the antidote to the rat-racey culture of hedonistically acquiring internships solely for prestige, rather than for the prospect of inviting opportunities for genuine learning and mentorship. in a previous post, rekindling childlike wonder, i mention how:
"I firmly believe in embracing the natural rhythm of life – the non-linearity of it all. And that life will reward you when you do something unexpected, when you don't worry about the steps in between."
i still firmly believe in this—if anything, over the past two to three months, my conviction has increased twofold. i find it almost bizarre how that last line foreshadowed my belief in not depriving myself of this process.
incidentally, i think not depriving yourself of going through this process of discovery allows you to come across really cool "unlocks!" and for pedagogical reasons, i think this is great! it sharpens your antennae, making you more attuned to subtle insights and unexpected opportunities. what you work on doesn’t have to change the world; it doesn’t even have to make sense to someone else. but it should—for you—so long as it enriches your worldview.
i find myself most excited when i try to reason frameworks on my own before learning an existing method. more often than not, i come up with utterly terrible and inefficient solutions to seemingly trivial problems. but going through the process of intuitively reasoning my own steps scratches the right part of my brain.
the bhagavad gita says it best: "you only own the rights to your labor, not its fruits." in other words, if you rush the process of discovery, you miss out on the delights of the process itself. it reminds me of the adage that "expectation is the thief of joy." and the process is always the most enjoyable!
so, enjoy the process of discovery. try to figure out the answer yourself. try to arrive at the answer using your own methods—feel like you could have invented the solution yourself! and maybe, just maybe, you could discover something novel—something better than what exists out there.
will you miss out on "foundational" knowledge? absolutely. but actually—that’s kind of the point. you come into everything with fresh new eyes. it reminds me a lot of what sholto douglas said in this youtube short, getting scouted by deepmind which initially sparked my motivation to build my chip. what stuck with me most is his point about how recruiting people straight out of unconventional paths could potentially yield greater returns than hiring someone straight out of grad school. why? because they approach problems with fresh eyes and aren’t locked into methodologies from a particular field.
and i think if you truly want to pursue great work—and open the doors to invite discoveries of zeros (i love this piece), its important to let go of immediate validation. and instead, embrace the uncertainty and the slow, sometimes messy process of figuring things out on your own terms.
i'd like to end this (rant??) with yet another adage—but this time from james lin—and one that i had already used in a twitter post because i’m out of creative endings: "good art is not rushed. it arrives at its own schedule."
arrivederci,
evan
thoughts catalyzed from brett kim, harrison kessel, micah johnson, and james lin.
vibes: https://youtu.be/bQt2_IQD6J8?feature=shared