I think it’s likely folly to think that the big city is only place where intellectual pursuit and learning can happen.
I often tell people that living in a rural area is much like living in the city, but living next to the city is like neither.
I often tell people that living in a rural area is much like living in the city, but living next to the city is like neither.
Let’s say you’re interested in transformers. In a big city, you could go to a meetup, talk to different people working on this stuff at a production level (maybe there’s even some guy who works on it at Google), talk about tips or pitfalls that no one ever publishes and potentially have the conversation veer off to DuckDB or some obscure topic. When you have a gathering of like minds, the conversation can go in unpredictable directions and you can potentially land in very interesting places.
In a less urban area, this is far less likely to happen because there are just fewer people with the same interests (unless you’re lucky). I grew up with friends who were absolutely brilliant (high fluid intelligence) who come from farming families. But they just weren’t interested in what I was interested in. The core of intellectual pursuit isn’t just smart people, but the confluence of people who have the same interests and who are also well positioned.
You might ask, can’t you just learn this stuff online and talk to people on Reddit? But the reality is that positive effects of randomness require real life undirected interactions with the right people.
(This is for instance why people are willing to relocate to a cold city like Montreal (-30°C/-22°F in the winter) to work in Bengio’s lab for a couple of years, just so they can overhear lunchtime conversations about how to train certain models. A lot of this knowledge is caught and not taught.)
I’ve gotten so many ideas from just random conversations with well positioned people who happened to be doing something important and interesting. It’s not just about being smart.
Are you just trying to find that level of communication in places like this?
* body language, non verbal communication
* the ability to respond instantly
* the ability to interrupt
* the ability do develop relationships over time
Which do not exist altogether anywhere on the internet
But, it’s entirely possible to have thoughtful, deep, honest discussions with individuals over a textual medium and to develop meaningful relationships in that way. I have done so. Often these relationships start in a more open public setting and become more meaningful in a private space, similarly to real life.
Consider the collections of letters from snail mail friendships some classic authors used to maintain. Also purely done in writing.
The idea that spontaneous interactions lead to innovation is wonderfully captured in Kevin Simler’s essay Going Critical
People outside of cities can read good too.
I've had lots of good tech discussions in several of towns that don't crack the top 20 biggest US cities. And I wouldn't argue I'm incredibly well travelled.