Apprentice to Genius
Collison: There's this interesting book — Apprentice to Genius — that follows three generations of scientists. Someone who mentored somebody else, who in turn mentored another scientist. They were all extremely successful.
The book is a description of what they all did, but also a reflection on — what is it that was transferred?
Three generations of scientists, each mentoring the next. All extremely successful. What got transferred?
Problem Selection
Collison: One of the most important and subtle questions in science is problem selection. How do you choose what to work on? No one tells you what to do. You need to choose something sufficiently important and hard — that would be important if you succeeded — but not so intractable that you can't actually make any progress.
This is part of what the mentees describe learning from their mentors.
Problem selection — how do you choose what to work on? No one tells you. That's what the mentors transferred.
Learning What Great Actually Is
Collison: When I talk to people in other domains, this is so frequently the thing I hear — they worked with some person or organization or in some environment, and they learned what great actually is. That just permanently changed their sense for what their own standard for their work ought to be.
They learned what great actually is. That permanently changed their standard for their own work.
What People in Their 20s Should Do
Collison: Maybe one version of what people in their 20s should do is — get some ideas about domains you're interested in or care about. But then figure out where can you learn the highest standards? Where are the highest standards embodied? And where can you go and experience that firsthand?
Where are the highest standards embodied? Where can you go and experience that firsthand?