kanfa [by Mac Budkowski]
In the last post, I explored the history and future of the Niche Internet. I was happy to see that it resonated with so many people, and some even shared their Niche Internet writings.
But why do Niches even matter? What makes them so special that they are worth our time? I hinted at my perspective at the end of the last essay, but here’s a more elaborate answer.
- Get all these niche-obsessed (art, physics, and tech) people in one place. - Create an environment where they can cooperate and compete. - Let them bounce off their ideas, build on top of each other’s projects, and move the domain forward.
In other words, these projects created spaces for niche communities to flourish. In return, these communities helped to take humanity to new heights.
Every university degree is a Schelling point for people interested in a particular subject. Schools use tough admission criteria to filter for students who are the most passionate about domains such as computer science, literature, or medicine. Then, they put these carefully selected students in an environment where they live, learn, and do projects together. And although undergrad students rarely move science forward, some of them later stay in academia and compete for the Nobel Prize.
