It's been 7 years since I graduated university, and aside from a few years of work at a startup in SV, I've been working on app projects all on my own. I like the independence and the pursuit of my own destiny, but lately I've been feeling terribly lonely. More than anything, I've been missing the institutional feel of college. I miss having smart people all around me with different career tracks and interests. I miss spontaneous moments of collaboration and insight, guided from above by supremely gifted professors. I miss feeling like I'm in a place where everyone is working on themselves or for the betterment of society, all without the risk of getting "fired". And I especially miss feeling like I'm in the crucible for our collective futures. Aside from the obvious option of going back to grad school (which sounds extremely draining unless you're super into it), are there any collaborative, cross-disciplinary institutions like this in the "real" world?
I don't know about institutions, but if you were to choose a niche that was breaking new ground - distributed apps for example - and start contributing to it im sure you could find yourself in a crucible, collaborating with gifted people to make a dent in the universe.