I agree there is something more exciting about diving into a whole new field, since the fruit become low-hanging again and progress is faster. I guess what I meant is specific to economics, or other fields that give you ‘thinking tools’; I underestimated how narrowing in on specific questions/fields teaches you how to learn, such that you can bounce to new disciplines and learn a lot much faster. Maybe another way to say that is that my focusing in on very particular subtopics was more temporary than I forecasted, but necessary for skill building.
It sounds like you still had to slog through the drudgery at times, but the drudgery didn’t last very long after you’d mastered the skills? And that’s because mastering the skills let you quickly iterate and hop to new ideas?
I think I’ve experience drudgery on the end of projects, when I feel like I’ve learned what I would like to about a sub-topic, but I still need to formalize everything in exacting detail for something like an academic publication. Hopping between and/or starting new projects—even within the same sub-discipline—is not boring for me.
However, things are probably different when you’re near the frontier of a sub-discipline and the research you’re working on is generating new knowledge, rather than reading lots of what others have done. It’s definitely more exciting. Admittedly, it takes a lot of hard work to get to that point in any field, but I’ve found it very worthwhile.
I agree there is something more exciting about diving into a whole new field, since the fruit become low-hanging again and progress is faster. I guess what I meant is specific to economics, or other fields that give you ‘thinking tools’; I underestimated how narrowing in on specific questions/fields teaches you how to learn, such that you can bounce to new disciplines and learn a lot much faster. Maybe another way to say that is that my focusing in on very particular subtopics was more temporary than I forecasted, but necessary for skill building.
It sounds like you still had to slog through the drudgery at times, but the drudgery didn’t last very long after you’d mastered the skills? And that’s because mastering the skills let you quickly iterate and hop to new ideas?
I think I’ve experience drudgery on the end of projects, when I feel like I’ve learned what I would like to about a sub-topic, but I still need to formalize everything in exacting detail for something like an academic publication. Hopping between and/or starting new projects—even within the same sub-discipline—is not boring for me.
However, things are probably different when you’re near the frontier of a sub-discipline and the research you’re working on is generating new knowledge, rather than reading lots of what others have done. It’s definitely more exciting. Admittedly, it takes a lot of hard work to get to that point in any field, but I’ve found it very worthwhile.
Thank you for the context :-) I really appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective here!