On enthusiasm

According to Maria Popova, the author of an enormously popular blog Brain Pickings, in order for a piece of work to have a chance to become an important and lasting contribution to the field, rather count-intuitively, this work has to be done with only one person in mind as the potential audience – the author him/herself. This applies to nearly all areas of activity, and certainly all creative areas, such as writing, arts, sports, academic work, etc.

The concept is counterintuitive, because we tend to think that value equals popularity. This tendency is based on human’s inherent desire for positive reinforcement, so we mistake interest in our work for evidence of its worthiness and value.

I personally see the grain of truth in the concept of doing the work for ourselves in the fact that doing something consistently, on the daily basis, and fully engaging in the activity (i.e. “showing up”) requires enthusiasm, and it is not possible to be genuinely enthusiastic about something without being interested in it. This echoes Richard Feynman’s story of how he re-discovered scientific research for himself after being burnt out during the work on Manhattan project. He said that decided to work on problems that were fun, without worrying about whether they were already solved by someone else or if they would potentially lead to important discoveries or applications.

With several millions of blog visitors per month, there is no doubt that Popova’s writing is popular. Of course, according to her own thesis, this is not a proof that her contribution is important or that it will be lasting, but she claims to be writing for herself, and her enthusiasm is evident.