A long, long time ago in the mimiverse, I visited potential graduate programs across the country. I visited about six of them that I was giving careful consideration. One such program, which shall remain nameless, was interesting. It seemed like a great program where I could soar. There were vast resources and “toys”. My research program could potentially be awesome and, had I gone to it, would have been completely different than what I ended up doing elsewhere. My life may have been different in every way possible.

But I didn’t go. My research could have potentially been grand and I could have perhaps soared. However, how can you soar surrounded by very basic people? Look, I don’t hang out with geniuses. In a way, that would be boring. Now, I am sure that sounds either mean or condescending. It’s not meant to be. You shall see. However, how can you soar higher and higherif you are pulled down by others. If you want grandiose you need to have some level of non-basicness around you. And yes, it appears like I made up a word. How’s that for basic? After visiting the programs, I went back to work and people asked me which way I was leaning. Then one of them knew without me saying anything that one program was filled with play-it-safe people. They knew. And, that is what I mean by basic. If you want to soar, you sometimes need people around you willing to jump out of a plane. You sometimes need people willing to take a stand. You sometimes need people who will rock and sink the boat in order to build a new prototype.