I was intrigued by Clay Shirky's observation that the web has unleashed the incredible surplus of mental energy that used to be dissipated by watching TV shows. The opportunities to do something creative and participate in the process of creation rather than simply consuming media has changed the way that I spend most of my evenings. (creativist vs consumer) This blog is constantly in the back of my head as I read interesting things online or one of my ever present books. The process of creating this blog has changed the way that I relate to the media that I consume. It's fuel for this blog, which is simulataneously a chronicle and agent of the changes I need to make to advance my career.
My career highlights one aspect of the web that has not gotten much comment from the web's Big Thinkers, at least not that I have seen. While Wired may think that the next revolution is all about the power of electrons to move atoms, there will always be a need for somebody to manipulate real objects. Real things are central to my activities as a chemist working in the pharmaceutical industry. I want to move my career to a place where I can improve how the industry manipulates things to discover and develop new medicines. The web has reshaped the creation of media, but how will the ability to instantly communicate with people in Japan, India, or China change the way that new medicines are discovered?
You ultimately need a person in a lab trying different things to find a new medicine. As this response to the Wired article make clear, making things is a much different proposition than creating a ebook or a video that can fulfill it's function on a computer screen. There is potential in the connectedness offered by the web. How can the pharmaceutical industry capitalize on that potential. Or, better yet, how can I capitalize on that potential to find a better way to develop new medicines?
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