Sculpting ourselves

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• Be careful what you wish for, not because you’ll get it but because you’ll be turned into the thing that can get it. It’s not a process where you just ask for something and it magically appears, it’s a process that breaks you down and rebuilds you into the right tool for the job.

• Another salient example of someone becoming the “right tool” for the job is Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin & Hobbes.

• Every waking hour of Watterson’s life was consumed by creating what many consider to be the greatest comic strip ever. Completely burnt out, Watterson walked away from Calvin & Hobbes forever in 1995. Other than the recent release of a new graphic novel titled The Mysteries, Watterson has been almost entirely off the grid for the past 28 years.

• Calvin & Hobbes forever in 1995. Other than the recent release of a new graphic novel titled The Mysteries, Watterson has been almost entirely off the grid for the past 28 years.

• If ideas have people and people become the “right tool” to express ideas into the world, then it is very important that we choose what ideas influence us.

• As a young person, though, I think the best thing you can do is to ignore all of that and simply observe the older people working there.

• Jobs at software companies are typically advertised in terms of the difficult problems that need solving, the impact the project will have, the benefits the company provides, the playful color of the bean bag chairs. Likewise, jobs in other fields have their own set of metrics that they use to position themselves within their domains.

• Look at the real people, and you’ll see the honest future for yourself.

• Marlinspike essentially describes the job-finding heuristic of “do you want your boss’ boss’ job?”.

• If not, then you should probably consider trying something new or you’ll end up being molded into “the right tool” for that work. Inertia and path dependency will make it very difficult to change.