Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time • Hacker News Board

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#41

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:08 PM UTC

ein0p wrote: post #33

datadrivenangel wrote: post #20

Reminds me of the classic: "Sorry I missed your comment of many months ago. I no longer build software; I now make furniture out of wood. The hours are long, the pay sucks, and there's always the opportunity to remove my finger with a table saw, but nobody asks me if I can add an RSS feed to a DBMS, so there's that :-)" https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/267#issuecomment-695149...

Could they add AI to that table saw so it removes fingers more efficiently, that’s the pressing question we’re facing today.

[deleted]

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#42

Post by cmgriffing » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:08 PM UTC

jncfhnb wrote: post #2

> In business theres a term called “Total Adressable Market,” or TAM. This is basically everyone in the world who could buy a product in a given category. What’s the TAM for a product like fishing rods? Well, that would be everyone in the world who likes fishing... > The reason we mention this is because when Pablo first started selling his art online, he created all his posts strictly in Spanish - his native languag…

I had one interesting thought while reading that section.

It seems that a lot of effort has been put into tooling for translating to and from English. It's probably much more effort invested than for other languages, so by using English he actually is increasing his TAM because the translation tools are better adapted to many other languages from English.

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#43

Post by tithe » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:08 PM UTC

free_bip wrote: post #18

doytch wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the argument here is that hate (which is a subset of passion) is not the purely negative thing that we immediately think it is. Especially in art. When people _hate_ art the art has served its purpose. Art's intention (to paint with heinously broad strokes) is to create emotions and drive thoughts. That's a very different intention than a product/service and they shouldn't be compared in that sense. But also:…

Arts intention is whatever the artist makes it out to be. If an artist wants their work to be loved, not hated... Well then this doesn't really apply does it

Does the artist control that outcome, though? The clear communication of their art's intention? Whether their work is loved or hated?

If you're creating art because you enjoy doing it, and if you're performing / putting it on display because you think it has value and others might enjoy it too, then I can't think of any reaction other than love and encouragement (implicitly via purchasing or explicitly via encouragement) that would suffice in keeping one motivated to share it with others.

Now, amidst any hate I might ask myself "Did I do the absolute best according to my ability? Is there anything else I can improve?" From this perspective, hate is amazing as fuel because it's an effective way to eliminate your perceived faults (assuming you take it personally, which I'd wager most artists do).

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#44

Post by boppo1 » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:09 PM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #37

This is why I never really tried. I thought I could sell art but it's a grind and political. It seems like either you can work constantly to sell art to fund making art or half ass it at some corporate job, make a ton of money and make art?

Corporate jobs don't leave much time to really make art unless it's halfassed garbage.

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#45

Post by AlecSchueler » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:12 PM UTC

I did this some years ago myself and I want to say the only thing I miss is...agile working! Throw your tomatoes now.

It's fantastic to work in this field and very fulfilling but I consistently find the quality of teamwork and coordination to be much lacking compared to my engineering past. I wish I could sit down with a group of musicians and give them a bunch of Jira tickets to work on for the sprint before the upcoming rehearsal.

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#46

Post by temp0826 » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:12 PM UTC

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #16

With AI hitting Art, and the Engineering Job Market right now, is it a toss which is the worse choice?

AI is hitting engineering now too, no? (Sure in small ways now, but I imagine it would be one of the first targets considering it is engineers doing it)

Since covid I left tech and have been working at ayahuasca retreat centers (assisting and managing) and apprenticing. Frankly I can't imagine a career less at risk to AI replacement!

Maybe someone should start a job board for AI-proof gigs.

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#47

Post by tayo42 » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:13 PM UTC

boppo1 wrote: post #44

tayo42 wrote: post #37

This is why I never really tried. I thought I could sell art but it's a grind and political. It seems like either you can work constantly to sell art to fund making art or half ass it at some corporate job, make a ton of money and make art?

Corporate jobs don't leave much time to really make art unless it's halfassed garbage.

Thanks I guess I've been making half assed garbage lol

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#48

Post by redbell » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:16 PM UTC

If I were to transition from software engineering, I'd prioritize a role that meets the following criteria:

  1. Minimizes screen time and doesn't rely heavily on computers for productivity.

  2. Allows me to disconnect after work without constant notifications or calls.

  3. Offers stability, requiring minimal adaptation to new trends or technologies.

  4. Lastly,  and more importantly, not easily replaceable by AI in the near future.

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#49

Post by ambicapter » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:16 PM UTC

tithe wrote: post #3

> “If you’re getting hate, that’s a good sign.” ...In the past, he used to engage with them...Now, he doesn’t get too involved. Did he mean to say "passion" in this case? How is hate a "good" sign of engagement? If someone has an opinion and is willing to share it with me, I'd hope they could do it in a constructive way (but I wouldn't call that "hate", and this is the Internet he's talking about). Imagine being surr…

I think this is just a "content creator" realizing, but not admitting to themselves, that the algorithms that spread their content (that they're banking on to get paid) have "figured out" that humans' strong negative emotional reaction has a higher engagement potential than strong positive reactions, thus those who generate the most hate are those who get seen/paid the most.

Re: Quitting engineering to pursue art full-time

#50

Post by onemoresoop » Tue, Apr 30, 2024, 9:18 PM UTC

AlecSchueler wrote: post #45

I did this some years ago myself and I want to say the only thing I miss is...agile working! Throw your tomatoes now. It's fantastic to work in this field and very fulfilling but I consistently find the quality of teamwork and coordination to be much lacking compared to my engineering past. I wish I could sit down with a group of musicians and give them a bunch of Jira tickets to work on for the sprint before the upc…

> I wish I could sit down with a group of musicians and give them a bunch of Jira tickets to work on for the sprint before the upcoming rehearsal.

They'd most likely become your little slaves if you paid them. The reason people put up with such bureaucratic systems and bosses is the pay. And many quit in frustration for lower pay and more freedom.