Work on solvable, not grand, problems
Date created: 2022-05-16
In a letter to a former PhD student, Feynman learned that the PhD student felt inferior because he wasn’t working on grand problems like general relativity.
The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to.
If you work on problems that you can help solve, you will get the pleasure of success and of helping others.
No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it.
I agree but also think it should be balanced with finding important issues, The Hamming question can help. Ideally they should be both important and solvable, that’s the sweet spot.