Medicine. Health policy. Policy, in general. All allow you to do what you ask (to greater or lesser degrees). Of course, there is a lot of training required to get into the 'thinking' jobs in medicine.
Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#12Start your own business. Every day I have to do a lot of intense thinking... Every week, long term strategy and planning. Pretty much every business email that I write or phone call that I make requires a lot of thinking and analyzing. Especially since there's always an understand that if I fuck up, it's usually directly money out of my pocket. It's not for everybody, but if you're looking for a job that makes you th…
Running a business is much, much, much more about doing than it is about thinking.
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#13Art. Probably not a job, but for a very nice hobby, try it out. Draw or paint something. Find an old camera (film-based) and take some pictures. Then develop the pictures yourself in a darkroom.
Sounds like a a bunch of simple tasks, right? Not really. As an example, some things that go into a drawing:
What kind of paper do you want to draw on? Are you going to make your own paper or buy some premade? What materials do you want the paper to be made of? What are you going to draw with? Pencils? If so, what classification? Colors? Ink the drawing in afterwards? What inks are you going to use, if so? How are you going to put the ink on the page? Not to mention "what are you going to draw?"
And thats scratching the surface. And there's just as much to consider for every other type of art.
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The problem is that almost everyone would rather think than do. I'd disagree. I think that the majority of people would rather work with something more concrete (doing) than abstract(thinking).
You really think so? I think a lot of people become habituated to doing because that's what they need to do to put food on the table. And most of the time, they won't find anyone willing to listen to their thoughts anyway, so why bother spouting off? But if you really listen to people, I've found that most can think pretty deeply about grand and overarching subjects. And it's people from all walks of life - auto mech…
So I'm in the middle of working with a psychologist right now who is counseling me about my career.
I'm in the same boat as the OP, and like you, I figured that everyone would rather just think, so I kind of discounted that as an option.
What he told me is that while a lot of people like to spout off opinions, few people are as passionately curious and have the capacity for sustained and analytical thought.
I'm not bragging, but my point is that for some people, thinking type work really is their skill. The jobs available can be harder to find.
I'm in the process of considering a return to school for a PhD in psychology, for example, and it's going to really throw a wrench in my life because I'm already 26 and married.
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#15Go be an analyst or a researcher. There are national labs and other research places all over the U.S. and places like Battelle, Noblis, Mitre etc. are always looking for good people.
There are a surprising number of people in both roles. Lots of reading, critical thinking and writing. If you can operate a computer beyond that of a six year old you can go places.
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The problem is that almost everyone would rather think than do. I'd disagree. I think that the majority of people would rather work with something more concrete (doing) than abstract(thinking).
You really think so? I think a lot of people become habituated to doing because that's what they need to do to put food on the table. And most of the time, they won't find anyone willing to listen to their thoughts anyway, so why bother spouting off? But if you really listen to people, I've found that most can think pretty deeply about grand and overarching subjects. And it's people from all walks of life - auto mech…
I don't doubt that you hear a lot of people with opinions on these subjects, but I don't think that's a very good indicator of what people want to do. How many of them do you see really trying to get Ben Bernanke's job?
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#17Go be an analyst or a researcher. There are national labs and other research places all over the U.S. and places like Battelle, Noblis, Mitre etc. are always looking for good people. There are a surprising number of people in both roles. Lots of reading, critical thinking and writing. If you can operate a computer beyond that of a six year old you can go places.
places like Battelle, Noblis, Mitre etc
Can you give more examples? I've never heard of these places..
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
You really think so? I think a lot of people become habituated to doing because that's what they need to do to put food on the table. And most of the time, they won't find anyone willing to listen to their thoughts anyway, so why bother spouting off? But if you really listen to people, I've found that most can think pretty deeply about grand and overarching subjects. And it's people from all walks of life - auto mech…
I don't doubt that you hear a lot of people with opinions on these subjects, but I don't think that's a very good indicator of what people want to do . How many of them do you see really trying to get Ben Bernanke's job?
How many of the folks that you see posting here about how they'd rather do thinking-type professions are actively trying to get Ben Bernanke's job? ;-)
My point is that if you took out all the barriers to entry, walked up to someone, and said, "Hey, we want you to control the economy. Seriously. No, there are no strings attached. We want you for the job," I bet most of them would take it. The reason you don't see people actively trying for this job is because there are lots of hurdles in the way. After all, we want the people who do the thinking jobs to have proven themselves first, so we know that they're not just spouting off nonsense.
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#191. Get a PhD. 2. Become a professor/researcher. 3. Grad students program for you.
You left out the part where in 1. (and 1.5: Postdoc for a professor/researcher), you're the one doing the programming for someone else. ;-)
Re: Ask HN: Non-programming, 'thinking' jobs?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
You really think so? I think a lot of people become habituated to doing because that's what they need to do to put food on the table. And most of the time, they won't find anyone willing to listen to their thoughts anyway, so why bother spouting off? But if you really listen to people, I've found that most can think pretty deeply about grand and overarching subjects. And it's people from all walks of life - auto mech…
So I'm in the middle of working with a psychologist right now who is counseling me about my career. I'm in the same boat as the OP, and like you, I figured that everyone would rather just think, so I kind of discounted that as an option. What he told me is that while a lot of people like to spout off opinions, few people are as passionately curious and have the capacity for sustained and analytical thought. I'm not b…
The Ph.D is itself a long process of "doing", where you're apprenticed to an experienced researcher and do his grunt work while you prove yourself capable of original research. Writing a dissertation is work, and it goes along with a lot of unglamorous work (like a research/teaching fellowship).
I never disputed that it's possible to make a living as a "thinker", only that it's realistic to do so without first proving your worth as a "doer". The people who end up in those thinking positions are the ones who manage to slog through the doing.