Douglas Coupland captures a key geek personality trait in Microserfs when he talks about overfocusing. Bringing an obsessive, microscopic focus to the task at hand allows smart technical people to perfect the myriad small components that make up a complex system. In personal pursuits, it often shows itself in a mastery of a few chosen interests.
The liability of overfocusing is burning out while concentrating on things beyond one’s control and any logical solution. Couple this with a need for short-term measurable progress towards a goal, and you have my typical source of frustration. Both work and my romantic life fall squarely in this category; for all my effort I often have little to show because of external factors. Even with this logical knowledge, it’s still difficult to find the patience to wait for results.
del.icio.us/mbotos
August 10th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
This is not a political comment. Just a net surfer from sunny Ithaca. I loved your Finger Lakes photos. Your photos of Watkins Glen are especially impressive. Thanks for the peek.
Janet [a fellow Cornell alum]