Three important steps in my maturation process
A software engineer reflects on their career maturation, noting that individual impact is often less significant than the 'ripeness' of ideas. The author discusses the shift from feeling personal responsibility for technical discoveries to a more nuanced understanding of incentive structures.
Why it matters
The piece offers a philosophical perspective on the ethics of technology and the professional growth of engineers in high-stakes environments.
My father passed recently, and he was twice my age. I am approximately the same age that he was when I was born, and I am now “the old generation” - there’s no one left in the generation above me.
At the same time, I recently joined a company that skews younger-than-me. When I joined Google in 2011, I had just turned 30, and was in the mainstream demographics of Google in 2011. There were a bunch of more senior folks, with the very senior ones being in their 50s and having completed stints at Bell Labs. I admired a lot of these “greybeards” (even though this is a sexist term - what’s the right female equivalent? There were a few very senior female engineers that I would love to include).
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