If You Have Multiple Interests, Do Not Waste The Next 2-3 Years
Dan Koe · 2026
"Multiple interests aren't a lack of focus, they're the raw material for a durable competitive edge — a perspective only you have — but they need a 'vessel' (a brand built around your own development) to turn into income, or they stay tutorial-hell hobbies."
Koe positions self-education, self-interest, and self-sufficiency as the three ingredients of a sovereign (rather than institution-dependent) mind, arguing industrial-era specialization made workers 'stupid and ignorant' by design (referencing Adam Smith's own warning about repetitive labor) so they'd stay dependent on employers and schools. Every interest pursued leaves a 'residue' that increases the connections your mind can make; specialization halts that process, which is why he compares the current moment to the Renaissance — before the printing press, multi-domain mastery (da Vinci, Michelangelo) was rare because knowledge itself was scarce, and the internet has reproduced that same explosion of access.
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