Life is not a 0 + 🎲
In the fast-paced realm of technology, where success appears to be a finite resource it’s easy to fall into the trap of viewing the industry as a zero-sum game. If you make it to the top it’s because someone else could not.
If you have to succeed it ought to be at someone else’s cost
What if you choose not to share your valuable resource in-fear of someone exploiting it or using it against you? Would you rather not publish your helpful blog post? Lie about missed opportunities, claiming them in secret and being unhelpful to a friend in need? This jugaad mindset is not only pessimistic but also detrimental to the collective progress of both technology and relationships.
I’ve seen peers keeping valuable information to themselves and resorting to quick fixes, which fuels a zero-sum mindset by virtually hoarding resources and not bearing any fruitful advice within their circles.
When you work on a project or resource that let’s say — outshines others in your small group and it stifles innovation making you complacent and lazy. You might not feel the need to put in honest effort to achieve the same level of success, opting instead to copy-n-paste from a friend’s work.
Why bother actually innovating when both projects with a bunch of line-changes different variable names are valued equally in our current education system.
Watch this talk by this NITK professor given at India FOSS
The big picture
Innovation thrives when minds come together, pooling diverse talents and ideas to tackle challenges. The sum of these collaborative efforts far exceeds what any individual or company could achieve alone.
It’s a systemic problem that needs to be addressed at the grassroots level. I don’t give-in to withholding some of my favourite resources or shun giving tailored advice. I have always remained approachable to people in need.
Resources
Rather than viewing success as a limited commodity to be seized at the expense of others, college is not meant to be GPA factory mine. Quality resources such as your ideas, inherently bring value.
Conversely, inferior resources perpetuate the zero-sum game. A key metric for assessing idea quality lies in recognizing interdisciplinary collaboration and collective efforts.
I encourage you to use me as a resource — teaching and helping others bring me joy.
I urge you to abandon a mindset that views situations as zero-sum games and maintain mutual respect when you approach someone for help. Do your homework, bring something that they value to the table, enriching the conversation and dynamic between the two.
Much of my content, work, and code are freely accessible as libre-software and I feel happy that I can make a small changes in people’s lives that go a long way.
Feel free to reach-out if you need someone to /talk to!