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Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

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Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#61

Post by tboyd47 »

anoplus wrote: post #18

I explore passion because I think there are things more "economical" to be passionate about. I am now a software developer. When I was in high-school I didn't get the point of computers beyond playing pc games all summer long. I just heard once in a while "if you pick cumputers major you will have a descent job". I was a painter in high-school. I wanted to create amazing and realistic paintings to wow everyone. And I…

Some games are very social. I get the chance to meet people playing online games I never would have had the chance to meet, from all over the world. I've spent whole Sunday mornings discussing life, the universe, and everything with people I just met, all while we completely ruin the opposing team.

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#62

Post by tresil »

anoplus wrote: post #18

I explore passion because I think there are things more "economical" to be passionate about. I am now a software developer. When I was in high-school I didn't get the point of computers beyond playing pc games all summer long. I just heard once in a while "if you pick cumputers major you will have a descent job". I was a painter in high-school. I wanted to create amazing and realistic paintings to wow everyone. And I…

It’s fascinating how similar your experiences are to my own. I wonder how many of us there are.

I’m also in the same place in my life where I’ve realized that I need to develop a passion for people and relationships. I have been out of balance in recent years focusing far too much on my career and technology. I think it’s an easy thing to do and offers a more measurable and explicit reward, so I gravitate toward it.

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#64

Post by eezurr »

nishantvyas wrote: post #26
rdlecler1 wrote: post #2

It makes for a nice aspirational graduation speech, but as many PhDs will attest passion doesn’t matter much if society doesn’t value your passion and you need to put food on the table.

Problem is, "Find and follow your passion" social expectation from very early in life. In reality, 1) "finding passion" early is hard; Before one turns 12, brain is not fully develop to logically understand the true likes then from 13-19 it goes thru a huge amount of hormonal, emotional and physical changes... what's left is an average 19 year old teen with I'm "not sure my major" in college, let alone the passion...…

People = Children and Adults below

I think it's a social expectation based on selection bias. i.e. I dont think many people are capable of developing passion. That's not to say the average person doesn't have interests or are uninteresting, but few people go out of their way to focus on something that is internally constructive (autodidact, hobbies, art ) as opposed to externally constructive (e.g. tv, video games, internet). Another way to put it, an artist's distraction is their art.

Im speaking from an armchair, and as someone who discovered my passion at a young age (10). Throughout the following 18 years, I rarely met people who are >= mildly obsessed over something internally constructive (granted, I didnt go to college).

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#65

Post by sethrin »

cableshaft wrote: post #42
geoalchimista wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. At least passion should be complemented with a good exit plan.

That's why I studied Computer Science instead of 'Game Design' in college. I've been designing and making games for most of my life in some form or another (currently board and card games, previously video games) in my spare time, and spent some time in the video game industry, but I got burned out after 4 years and then was able to get a much higher paying job by going back to the corporate world. The coding problem…

Have you considered a craft? Carpentry, say?

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#66

Post by sethrin »

bad-joke wrote: post #57
growlist wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my highly subjective view artists are expecting to get paid for something that most of us have the capability to participate in with reasonable results given a similar investment of effort; in other words, most artists differ from the general population not in artistic aptitude, but rather in the desire to be an artist. I would love to sit around and play with ideas for a living, but it doesn't pay the bills in my…

Relatively speaking, the majority of people have the capability to do almost anything. It's only a matter of time and resources. Natural abilities and genetics can accelerate the learning process, yes, but accelerated mastery is really only an advantage if you're trying to master as many things as possible within your lifespan, or you're working under some other deadline. What I'm saying here is that artists can prob…

This has been personally true for me; I began my career as an artist. I've known a few others to do similarly. Most of the people who do coding schools come from other backgrounds, and you can say what you want about coding school grads, but I've met very few who I felt could not become good programmers someday. As you say, some people have a longer, harder path than others, but at the end of the day, the brain is pretty plastic.

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#67

Post by sethrin »

redmaverick wrote: post #39
PakG1 wrote: post #7

A similar sentiment: http://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/dont-follow-your-passion-...

Not really: 3. Find a job you love. Cuban says there's an easy way to tell if you've found a job that can help you build a career. "If it matters how much you get paid, you are not in a job you really love," he writes. This doesn't mean that you should not strive to make as much money as possible, but you need to prioritize your passion over your paycheck if you want to put yourself on a rewarding career path that al…

Hmm. What if I live like a student because I am slightly lazy, I have modest needs, and I'm paralyzed by fear and self-doubt?

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#68

Post by Noos »

im3w1l wrote: post #8
wazoox wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. And see the terrible situations is all and every vocational and artistic occupations. Competition is so fierce that almost everyone has to work basically for free and sustain themselves by doing menial job on the side. You could argue that most of them would be better finding a life occupation they're at least merely interested in instead, but providing decent living, and keeping their passion as a hobby. (I've…

I can't help but wonder if a planned economy would be better, someone who said "you're good enough, pursue this we will support you economically", or said "sorry you didn't make the cut you'll have to develop a passion for something else".

Would you like to be told to develop a passion for cleaning toilets?

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#69

Post by growlist »

bad-joke wrote: post #57
growlist wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my highly subjective view artists are expecting to get paid for something that most of us have the capability to participate in with reasonable results given a similar investment of effort; in other words, most artists differ from the general population not in artistic aptitude, but rather in the desire to be an artist. I would love to sit around and play with ideas for a living, but it doesn't pay the bills in my…

Relatively speaking, the majority of people have the capability to do almost anything. It's only a matter of time and resources. Natural abilities and genetics can accelerate the learning process, yes, but accelerated mastery is really only an advantage if you're trying to master as many things as possible within your lifespan, or you're working under some other deadline. What I'm saying here is that artists can prob…

Here's where we perhaps differ - I don't think most art being made today passes the test of requiring skills that take significant time to develop. A load of bricks on the floor? A woman knitting using wool pulled from her vagina and dyed with her menstrual blood? When art is purely about crazy ideas then I don't think artists have any special monopoly. If we were talking about the type of artist that has honed their skills over thousands of hours of painting, for example, I would agree that significant investment of time develops tangible skills, but this type of approach is hugely unfashionable I believe, with practitioners viewed scornfully as technicians rather than 'proper' artists.

The scorn of traditional art from conceptual art even spawned a reactionary traditionalist movement, the Stuckists.

Re: Instead of ‘finding your passion,’ try developing it, Stanford scholars say

#70

Post by Noos »

klum wrote: post #21
rdlecler1 wrote: post #2

It makes for a nice aspirational graduation speech, but as many PhDs will attest passion doesn’t matter much if society doesn’t value your passion and you need to put food on the table.

It seems to me a lot of the people making a living out of art or other "commercially challenging" occupations have cultivated a passion for the business part of it as well. I don't mean that in a cynical sense. If you view business and making money as a "necessary evil", a taint on the face of your pure artistry, then you're probably going to be miserable trying to make a living. I prefer to think about it as finding…

The flip side though is that the business minded artists often produce the most banal work. James Patterson has made 700 million dollars over a decade from his writing and cowriting. His books dominate the shelves, but as art they barely rise to pulp status. Yet his latest novel is cowritten with ex-president Bill Clinton.

He's created value, of course. But what he does isn't art, its mass production of kitsch on an industrial scale.

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