this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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And to make matters worse I’m not spending free moments learning more and more computer science — but am instead reading internet stuff about material science. I can enjoy my wide ranging brain but agree that sometimes I wish I was more focused.
I'm doing a PhD, so hang out a lot with researchers - though not in natural sciences. Still, in my experience, the best researchers are often those who engage with other hobbies on the side. They're often very specialized within the field, but can have all kinds of hidden talents and interests. It keeps your brain fresh.
So don't feel bad about pursuing your interests! Sometimes it's also unexpected combinations of knowledge that is valuable, not hyperspecialization in one specific field. :)
Kudos to having wide-ranging interests. We need both types of people (and many many in between) to survive and progress in this world together :)
I like this take. Being a jack-of-all-trades means I always feel like I'm not good at anything. It does take all kinds to make the world go 'round, though.
My hobbies are almost exclusively outdoors activities. I want to be as far away from a computer as possible when I get off work.
I agree. When you have two specialized areas that need to work together, someone who is a generalist in both of them might see things that specialists in both areas might miss due to a lack of understanding of the other part.
To be fair, you don't get to be an expert at something by just reading about it. You become an expert by immersing yourself in it and knowing all the nuanced details of what you specialize in.
For example, I'm a AAA gamedev programmer. My specialty is the Unreal Engine. I know tons of little quirks about the engine that many of my coworkers don't - but that's because I've been using the engine for over a decade at this point.
I don't devote every waking moment to learning about Unreal - I used to spend a lot of free time researching it before I got hired, but now I leave gaming stuff at work to avoid burnout.
You don't need to like hyperfixate on something to become good at it. You just need to work on it for long enough - and if it's literally your job, you'll spend 40+ hours/week engrossed in it, for years.