Ask HN: How to re-kindle my interest in computer science?

I'm a software engineer / technical architect bordering on 3 y.o.e. at a large firm. Two of those years being in the architecture role, which includes team lead duties. While I've adjusted well to the role and my boss seems satisfied with my performance, he and an overly ambitious workaholic leadership really left me burned out at the end of last year (same experience with several others in the same role too). To a degree I'm still burned out now but I have resolved to become a better lead this year before leaving my job.

That said, I feel like I'm no longer interested in computer science and programming as a whole and that really bothers me. I never felt this way until I got into this architecture role and I've struggled with sparking my desire to learn more and *do* more things related to comp. sci & software development which obviously has its benefits at my job. I guess I'm at a loss with how I can get into the groove of things again, I've forgotten so much and when I compare myself to those who seem to be able to talk circles around me when it comes to these topics I feel even more discouraged especially when I feel like I should *know* these things already.

Sounds like it’s a management issues. I’ve run into the same thing. I worked for 15 years without any major burnout, maybe a month here or there, but only twice I can remember. Then new management took over. Workaholics, unrealistic expectations, nonsensical objectives, and no real structure or leadership around any of it. I’m burned out and have been for several years. I think at this point the only ways to change that are either I leave or they leave. I have a feeling they aren’t going to last much longer, so I’m hoping to outlast them, but it’s been very difficult mentally.

As far as thinking you should know what other people do, remember to keep things in perspective. They talk about those things because they know about them. There are probably topics you can talk on where they would feel the same way. There are also people who just like to talk. A guy I work with likes to talk a lot, and presents himself as an expert, but the more I deal with him, the more the gaps show, and the gaps are huge. He really has no business saying 90% of what he says and the whole team is now wise to his BS, but he is always looking for a new sucker.

I saw something else pass through hacker news today which looks relevant: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39170399 "A Unified Theory of Fucks." The conclusion is that when you find you've stopped caring, it's because you put too much of yourself into systems and abstractions, instead of giving your love to people. Systems and abstractions can't return your love, and so it is a waste to put your love into them.

Who are the people you want to help, and how are you going to help them? You might find that even if you no longer GAF about computing in the abstract, you might still see some value in using your toolkit of knowledge and experience to help others.

I've also been having trouble articulating why I stopped GAF about computing and technology. Whenever I go for a job interview, a question is "what tech do you think is interesting or exciting right now?" and I think it's a dumb question. I actually don't GAF about kubernetes or microservices or serverless or FaaS or whatever you think is cool this year.

For me, it's not so much burnout, but the realization that I have lost my attachment to tech-in-itself. I have enough expertise that, while there is always more to learn, I can stop demanding more expertise from myself and I can instead frame the conversation as "tell me about your problems, and I will fix them for you."

Everywhere you look people are complaining about _software complexity_. Why do things take so long to implement? Why are they so hard to change?

There is obviously a large problem with the way we do software engineering, and we are still figuring it out.

The longer you spend in software, you realize that the "accepted way to do things" changes all the time.

You just have to look at the things you couldn't imagine not using, and then ask "why" do we do things this way.

This will take you on a journey through computer history, and you will get a ton of "ahh that's why!" moments like you do when you they reveal the twist in a film or tv series - which gives you that dopamine hit to provide the re-kindling that you are looking for.

It will help you understand why things are the way they are from first principles which will help you "talk circles" around other people, and also see where the complexity creeps in.

You will realize that a lot of software people are just good at knowing how to use certain libraries, frameworks and technologies in a kind of cargo-cult way, which prevents them seeing more simple solutions.

Don't try to be. You need to diversify. Start climbing another mountain. You'll come back when something is interesting. Why do you feel it needs to be interesting? You desire for the familar is a fear of change. Embrace the change. I enjoyed sw eng but I don't want to do it for others. I work a 9 to 5 and it's a simple life. I look back fondly but wouldn't want to put myself back on a team with a product manager. Ask yourself what you want and allow yourself to say it's not in front of the screen anymore. You'll come back when you have that old spark of exploration in an area that's meaningful. Or maybe not and that's ok too.