I think the key is to realize and accept that some projects are now so complicated and large that no single person can build it from scratch.
The Unreal engine (for example) is built by a large team of individuals working full time over many years. No single human can start from scratch and build Unreal 5.
Same goes for leading edge AI, space rockets, Linux, AAA games, etc.
However what you can do is to work on things nobody has worked on before. A new type of programming language, an interesting new type of game etc. It is a lot harder to get started because you can’t simply target what has been done before. However you absolutely can make things that others find valuable. Indie game developers (for example) do this all the time. It is not easy but it is doable.
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I think the key is to realize and accept that some projects are now so complicated and large that no single person can build it from scratch.
The Unreal engine (for example) is built by a large team of individuals working full time over many years. No single human can start from scratch and build Unreal 5.
Same goes for leading edge AI, space rockets, Linux, AAA games, etc.
However what you can do is to work on things nobody has worked on before. A new type of programming language, an interesting new type of game etc. It is a lot harder to get started because you can’t simply target what has been done before. However you absolutely can make things that others find valuable. Indie game developers (for example) do this all the time. It is not easy but it is doable.