Current Paper - 21,500 words/59 references
I was going to write on a different topic this morning, but I happened to buy a new pair of headphones (which I apparently overpaid for now that I see that link) this morning and thought I'd share how awesome that was.
I've talked a lot about routine and pace and all sorts of boring yet important stuff so far with regards to my process. I haven't really talked about passion. Control and passion are opposite sides of the same coin, ego and id, but I'd argue both are important to any process. Most good teams that I meet working at Google have both, either in separate people that balance the team or in a single person who drives the team in a controlled way.
Personally, my passion is driven by self-delusion. Seriously. It's driven by the thought that I'm doing something amazing, revolutionary, ground-breaking, and that I am a hero to the entire world. Maybe it was reading too much epic fantasy as a child, but this is what gives me my narcissistic rush. And unfortunately, the more I live in the real world, the more this just doesn't make any sense.
This is where music comes in. When I put on headphones, especially when I'm around other people, it feels like I'm surfing the sea of humanity. Feeling people move around me but not requiring actual interaction makes you feel powerful, like Neo wandering through a human simulation. I've always wanted to watch my brain waves when I listen to music at good moments. I can feel the chemicals and thoughts swirling in my mind.
Regardless, music is my drug and its way more powerful than caffeine for stimulating effort. However, it is dangerous. Like I said, my passion is related to divorcing my senses from reality. And reality keeps you focused on writing that next chapter, keeps you from reading useless papers because they sound so AWESOME!, and keeps you from spending too much time on useless introspection...oh, shoot. Stupid headphones.
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