As someone who spends much time in hospitals and poring over medical textbooks, of late I have been curious about a whole side of business and 'alternative careers' that seemed to pass me by when I embarked on the steady, reliable treadmill of medical school.
Clearly, the world needs doctors. As yet, we haven't figured out a way of fixing someone's health purely through algorithms and robotics. But on the whole, are we moving away from a society in which traditional careers are the norm, as a younger generation strives for financial success?
I read a quote this morning that said nearly a quarter of 15-18-year-olds want to start their own business. In addition, 47% of teenagers said they were willing to take a risk to make money. And why shouldn't they? At that time you really have very little to lose, and potentially so much to gain.
Since the rise of social media there appear to be a lot of people who are famous for being simply that - famous. You only need to watch Rich Kids of Instagram to see teens living the high life with more money than they know what to do with (though I will concede here that some of them are business moguls).
Interestingly, with Kim Kardashian West's appearance on the cover of Forbes magazine this week, even she felt the need to respond to critics by tweeting the achievement was '#NotBadForAGirlWithNoTalent'.
So are we moving into an age where traditional careers are redundant? Probably not entirely. But certainly it's a time when the business-savvy market manipulators and young innovators look set to gain far more financially than most lawyers, accountants and doctors combined.
And what does this mean for me? Well, for the meantime at least I'm not looking to give up the day job any time soon. But after reading Tim Ferriss' The 4 hour work week I may well attempt a little side-venture in the not-too-distant...
Starting with this post.
Peace out xoxo