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This is a great story, but it suffers from a certain measure of survivorship bias. Ed Witten certainly had the fortitude and introspection to jump from field to field yet still keep in mind the ultimate goal of his explorations (which eventually led to great success) but my guess is that most people that hastily quit most endeavors that don't immediately strike their fancy do not end up nearly as successful.

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So long as you're making an honest effort, and actually working, there's no shame in stopping if it appears to you that your effort will not be rewarded. Witten, from that summary, spent at least a semester on all of his failed endeavors, and if three months is too hasty, we humans may be too short-lived to be properly deliberative.

I agree with your assertion but not really the justification you give. I don't think he needed an ultimate goal; he followed what seems like a random walk but ultimately found something that worked, hugely. There's definitely survivorship bias, but heck, if we discounted all stories by that criterion the world would be a much less interesting, albeit perhaps more realistic, place.

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