The Icarus Deception
In Seth Godin's most inspiring book yet, he challenges readers to find the courage to treat their work as a form of art. Everyone knows that Icarus's father made him wings and told him not to fly too close to the sun. But he ignored that warning and plunged to his doom. We've retold this myth, and many others like it, to generations of kids. All these stories have the same lesson: Play it safe. Obey your parents. Listen to the experts. It was the perfect propaganda for the industrial economy. What boss wouldn't want employees to believe that obedience and conformity are the keys to success? But there's another part of the myth that those in power hope you'll forget. Icarus was also warned not to fly too low, because sea water would ruin the lift in his wings. Flying too low is even more dangerous than flying too high, because it feels deceptively safe. The safety zone has moved. The propaganda has been exposed, and the old promises have been broken: Conformity no longer leads to comfort. But the good news is that creativity is scarce, and more valuable than ever. So is choosing to do something unpredictable and brave: make art. Being an artist isn't a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It's an attitude we can all adopt. It's a hunger to seize new ground, make connections, and work without a map. If you do those things you're an artist, no matter what it says on your business card.
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What Hacker News says
- Average is Over by Tyler Cowen. About educated middle class workers working with collaborative automated systems vs non-educated and a changing society.
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. An allegory about how our modern jobs are changing.
Mindset by Carol Dweck. About the belief of fixed mindset vs a growth or learning mindset, and the effects of both.
The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin. How our industrial (conformity) economy has evolved into a connection (post-industrial) economy, and what it takes to survive in this new world.
- I'm kind of in the same boat. I took a year off college to focus on learning web development.
A year later, I'm working for a startup, but I am also making double I was at my old job. It was really a paradigm shift in my mind.
I looked at college as my entrance to a career, and later learned that wasn't the case. People value unique skills, not cookie cutter graduates.
You're asking some deep life questions, that extend outside programming. a book: The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin really helped me when I was at a place you're in right now. Helped me understand how really successful people do it. hope that helps :)
- Thank you Bubs. The work your doing is so important and needed by our community. I've just finished Seth Godin's 'The Icarus Deception' and your post truly resembles art.
- "Mastery" by Robert Greene. "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin. "The Icarus Deception" by Seth Godin.
- > "If it’s finished, the applause, the thanks, the gratitude are something else. Something extra and not part of what you created. If you play a beautiful song for two people or a thousand, it’s the same song, and the amount of thanks you receive isn’t part of that song." (Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?)
- I read most of the comments, except of 2-3 vey long essays (short attention span).
On my way to work (living wage) I'll be listening to: - Millionaire Fastlane - Icarus Deception
I miss my freedom so much. Working because I have to pay off the car that is getting me to work. #insane
