Career

The Ethics of Doing What You Like

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Now and then when I talk to people about their careers, there seems to be a strange undercurrent of guilt when they discuss having their ideal career.  They feel that what they truly want to do is useless, that it doesn't benefit people, or that they're being selfish.  I usually encounter this among artists or people interested in video games, but I see it everywhere.

In short, I meet people who think "Doing what I really enjoy doesn't make the world a better place, so I shouldn't do it." 

What they're really saying is "I should do something I hate and would be lousy at in order to attempt to make the world a better place."  It's a strange kind of moral argument.

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No, New Technology Won’t Destroy Culture, Part Whatever

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Ever encountered the idea that the internet and online technologies will somehow destroy the barrier between professionals and amateurs, leading us to a horrible world without the glorious quality media we're used to?  That's a joke of course, between fears of Harlequin self-publishing to the "Cult of the Amateur" balderdash, we're all familiar with it.

I've recently found yet another reason this fear is a total load of hamster leavings beyond the many I've stated before.

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Weekly Challenge: Educating the Inner Child

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Ever heard the term inner child? I'm sure you have.  As for what it means, well, it seems whatever meaning it once has is now diluted by jokes, assumptions, and pop-psychology.

But, we're going to drag out this tired term for your challenge this week.

You probably think of yourself as mature overall, but there are things where you are ignorant, where you don't know, where you are, in one way or another immature.  Inside the "adult you" are little pieces of yourself that have yet to grow up and mature, parts of you that may be painful to deal with because of their flaws and immaturity.

Pick one of these "inner children", perhaps the ignorance of a subject or a petty and immature behavior.  You're going to work on it.

Take this troublesome inner child, and ask what opportunity is needed for it to grow up – what is the right time, right environment, right situation to let this annoying piece of you mature into something grand.

Now, how are you going to make that happen this week?

Sometimes our problems, our troublesome inner children, are best dealt with by seeking the right situation – and by handling them one at a time.

– Steven Savage