John Carmack on setting deadlines
youtube.com
youtube.com
00:27 Introduction by Prof. Keith Robinson
03:32 Start talk "Innovation and Invention"
04:51 "why did you think that you could solve all of these problems?"
06:48 Moore's law -> new opportunities (semiconductors)
07:39 solution space is vast
08:22 very few things are at theoretical peak
09:57 it's like an infinite to-do list
10:36 be open to multiple innovations at the same time
11:24 Nassim Taleb's book "Anti-fragile": strong upsides but minimal downsides (asymmetric)
13:52 ideas don't come from staring into space and waiting. mechanical process to farm ideas
15:25 work-life balance is fine but there are benefits to obsession
15:55 I critique ideas for free
17:18 Robert Heinlein: "good idea is worth one bottle of scotch"
18:23 process of turning ideas into reality
- ability to experiment: where smart kid can experiment, interesting things happen (Armadillo aerospace)
- ability to to score: random ideas to serious impacts when datasets available for public testing and scoring, competitions. that which you measure improves.
22:37 worst case: takes decades to run experiments (tokamak fusion research)
23:04 few innovations without a lot of people (cryptocurrency, solar cells and batteries)
25:00 vast majority of industries are under engineered -> Elon Musk the boring company
27:07 best person in entire world for particular task -> telepresence dream teams, hopes for virtual reality
27:49 capital is important, engineers are expensive
28:39 scapegoats: regulatory, investors
29:48 pockets of stability and risk aversion (US rocket launches. )
33:51 XPrize
35:25 time does really matter: too early to succeed or too late to matter. I have walked away from "when it's done". games started taking longer and longer to write, entire tastes in gaming can change, cannot expect a design to survive that long. healthiest startups know their runway is limited, limited amount of time.
38:15 Questions
39:03 Q1: How may emerging technologies like virtual reality change industries that are slow to adopt technology, like the legal industry?
40:16 Q2: How do you go about prioritizing and choosing your projects. Skill acquisition: How long do you give yourself to acquire a skill?
44:02 Q3: The theme in your in your talk was failure and sort of the ability to fail which leads to innovation. If that's part of the process how do you know when to give up on an idea and move on?
45:23 Q4: What are your views on blockchain and innovations in this industry that we might not expect or might not be thinking about right now?
47:15 Q5: With respect to the aerospace industry, what are some of the largest legal and regulatory challenges involved with starting a space travel company?
51:05 Q6: personal questions about how you work. "There's nothing wrong with a little obsession, especially to get things done. work-life balance. you do have a family, a wife and kids. how do you manage being a husband, being a father with the work that you do?
55:27 Q7: What is your favorite game that you've that you've worked on? What was the most challenging game?
56:58 Q8: For the students out there that are aspiring developers or aspiring lawyers that might have an idea that they think is innovative, do you have any last words of advice for them?
Source:-