I work in an scientific discipline closely related to engineering. This means that I am expected, in the course of my research, to actually build things. I create artifacts, but things that tangible, not just a set of equations or a theory. (of course the sets of equations and theories are the lofty goals of my work, but in order to get there, apparatus needs to be built, experiments run, etc)
This is the problem with everything. Not just my work, but huge swaths of the current world.
It used to be possible for two guys to change the world by building something, over the course of a few weeks or months, in their garage, on a shoe-string budget. This is becoming increasingly difficult, and in my field, it may be virtually impossible at this point.
When I was starting out, I could take ideas from conception to delivery. One person could do it all. This is no longer possible; it takes a team of people years of work and bags of money to produce a new product that is just an incremental improvement over the current state of the art. It hardly seems worth the effort, and that’s the crisis.
The amount of time and energy it takes to build new things in my field has surpassed the limits of sustainable enthusiasm. It takes so much time, effort, and sacrifice to make a difference that it’s hard to summon the passion necessary to make the commitment. In short, the fun is gone.
Facebook was created by a guy who wanted to communicate with his friends in college…he is now a millionaire, many times over…buck up, guy!
Comment by scarroll — March 14, 2009 @ 4:51 am