Ask HN: What motivates you to do what you do?

Post by nunez » Tue, Jun 20, 2017, 1:03 PM UTC

cmorelli wrote: post #15

ruleabidinguser wrote: post #4

That I need money and this is my best choice. I would guess 90+% of people who say theres anything more to it than this are lying to you and probably themselves. There are people with broader aspirations, but actually just saying you have some deep passion is a part of the culture, and in most cases, I don't think true.

I have to strongly, strongly disagree with this. First, let's talk about your assertion - we're basically all just in this for the money. If you want to make that claim, you have to be able to answer why. Why is money important? Why would we do anything just for money? Money itself is irrelevant, we only want it because of what we can get with it. So, let's go a step further and figure out what we'll buy with that mo…

Post by thatwebdude » Thu, Jun 22, 2017, 2:46 PM UTC

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #39

DenisM wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably true in your corner of the world, but holding on to this jaded view will do nothing but help you to stay in there. There's another world out there.

"There is another world out there" Yeah, it's called a personal life. Work is basically that thing I do to make the stuff I do in my personal life possible or more comfortable. Or simply not starve. Would I rather have some sort of enjoyment in the work I do? Yeah, but the truth is I can be happy enough doing janitorial work or working retail so long as the work environment and pay is good enough. It is just a job, a…

Post by thatwebdude » Thu, Jun 22, 2017, 2:52 PM UTC

JBlue42 wrote: post #59

robotnoises wrote: post #40

Money. I work for a large Enterprise software company and we are not "changing the world." That's fine, by the way, but the answer is money and it always has been. I have two young children at home and nothing is going to come close to making me feel as fulfilled as being their father. Since we need money to live I have to go away for 8-9 hours a day, working on CRUD applications and their supporting systems. What ke…

Yeah, people won't admit it but not much has changed other than the marketing that sells people on the jobs. Whether it's software development now or good-paying factory work a while back (but not too far back...), most people would like to try to work to live. If we lived in some sort of post-scarcity society, people might "work" but it most likely wouldn't be as much and maybe not exactly what you're doing now. The…

Post by thatwebdude » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 4:03 PM UTC

JBlue42 wrote: post #67

thatwebdude wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There'd probably be a lot more polymaths out there - people that wrote some programs for a few years then decide to play guitar for a decade, etc etc. I did that in reverse. Once I "make enough" I intend on going back.

That's great. I spent a lot of my early 20s working then quitting to travel to other countries. I've been bitten a little in my later twenties, now early-30s having tried to "settle" down but ending up trying out a lot of different careers. Now about 3-4 years into an "IT" career but working to leveraging that into either contract and/or remote work in the future. Plus trying to keep creative outside of it. fingers c…