We Have the Right

It’s well known that here in the west, a core value that is established throughout our culture and media is freedom/liberty. Hell, you don’t even have to go far into the politics to confirm that. The names of these documents for Canada and USA respectively are “Canadian Charter of Rights and FREEDOMS” and “Declaration of INDEPENDANCE”. It’s literally in the name. It gives us power to speak, practice religion, self-defense, employment, and a miriad of others. What other nations on Earth comes even close in that respect? In theory, it should empower people to rise up and indivudually fight for what they think is right. In practice, especially in recent times, the people have been polarized more than ever.

Mabye instead of fighting over why eating a chocolate bar is inappropriate, how about we focus on more pressing matters. Ironically, the more freedom you possess, the more paralyzed you will feel.

T vs I vs –

When it comes to skill proficiency, there’s a few categories used for classification. The – person is what you call “jack of all trades”. These people generally have an extreme breathe of knowledge, spanning and linking the most unheard of combinations. Your typical handyman would fall into this category. Able to fix your faucet, broken shingle, change your car brakes, etc. The problem is diagnoses. Most of the time, due to limited knowledge in the field, if their XP set doesn’t contain this problem, its usually over.

Then you have the I person. These people came out of the womb playing the violin. Been bricklaying ever since they could stand, or could completely disassemble, customize and reassemble a modern car blindfolded. They do one thing, and they do it damn well. Diagnoses is strong, since no amount of intelligence can solve a problem faster than something someone’s already experienced. The problem with these people is that they have no other proficiency elsewhere. Learning is all about reframing your understanding over and over, using different vantage points and drawing from other skill sets to increase creativity throughput.

Finally, the infamous T person. These people got the best of both worlds. Everyone should eventually strive to be this archetype. Everybody who has seen this I, –, T categorization have always been told to become T. But nobody wants to talk about how to get there. Do you draw your T down first, and then across? or Across then down?

To Teenagers and Young Adults

Even with my limited life XP thus far, I can confidently say that this society is purely meant to draw your T down first, then across. Unless you’re a straight up genius, it’s a bad idea to keep changing disciplines. The paradox of “how will I know what I like when I haven’t done it yet?” is often a rebuttal to this statement. Thing is, just having a taste, a trial run, will almost NEVER be enought to grasp the hidden gems of what there is more to learn (Dunning Kruger effect). Stick to one thing, and get really good at it. You’ll eventually see the fruits of your labour when you’re able to solve a problem when the answer isn’t on a search engine.

There’s a meme at my school how my program, mechatronics engineering, is a mistake. The main reason being when you’re 17 without any guidance, you obviously want to become Iron Man and excel at all aspects of a field. So you apply to mechatronics. “I’m gonna be an expert at all fields” says your naive self. Reality hits, and you realize if you want to make something that actually works, you need deep and fundemental knowledge. Brushing it off with a “I’ve seen it in a YouTube video” or “I’ve read about it in a book” is a cardinal sin. When your shit doesn’t work, you only have yourself to blame.

Point is, when you’ve developed an internal framework of how your field works at a fundemental level, the same fundemental basis can be applied elsewhere, making you a faster learner. By being an expert at one field first, it will catepult your knowledge with exponential speed, rather than spinning your wheels around not doing anything substantial.

Trying all the Ice Cream Flavours Only Gives You Diabetes

I’ve met a good handful of people, very intelligent, fast learners, but couldn’t stick to one thing for very long. The reasons might be different, but the path (or lack there of) is always the same. Shows interest in A -> watches 20 YouTube videos about A -> Purchases all the gear/equipment to get started -> Get bored -> Lose interest in A -> Shows interest in B. The cycle then repeats itself, with each cycle that can last anywhere from a few months to a few years.

Sure, I understand the whole notion of trying everything out when you’re young and impressionable. But if you try every single ice cream flavour in the store to decide which one you want, by the end of the saga, you’ve basically had a whole ice cream cone’s worth, wasted a bunch of time, and still haven’t had the satisfaction of enjoying an ice cream cone yet. I guess you ripped them off in the sense that you got 48 mini scoops for free, but ultimately, you ripped yourself off from enjoying a full ice cream cone yourself.

The Grass is Seldom Greener

Imagine you’re an individual that could theoretically obtain any partner you wanted. Ask and it will be given to you. So you partner hop. One hookup after another, leaving one when you get bored for someone else who’s on the surface more appealing. Then you realize it isn’t what you made it out to be, and jump again. The thing is, you’re left with all this XP, but you can never level up. It takes grit and courage to push through hardships, to make your grass greener. You could always swap it for another lawn, but without the putting enough work maintaining it, it’ll always end up the same as the last.

You will always find satisfaction in mastery, not novelty. Choose wisely.

-ekd