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

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

#21

Post by cmorelli »

ruleabidinguser wrote: post #16
cmorelli wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You need money to live. As for your other comments, I think you're misquoting me.

"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."

I'm not sure how I'm misquoting you here - you very clearly and plainly said you assume 90%+ of people who say anything other than money is their motivation are lying to you and themselves.

As for your comment that you need money to live - of course you do. That's a far cry from your statement, which is that people are solely motivated by money. The typical HN reader likely makes above the average salary, so they're already past the point of working for enough of a salary to live, and they're in the disposable income territory.

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

#22

Post by nvarsj »

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…

I don't think OP is talking about Doctors without Borders. He's talking about the super hyped engineer at a big Ad company who says she's extremely passionate about her job. This sort of attitude is very common in the U.S., in my experience.

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

#23

Post by cmorelli »

UK-AL wrote: post #20
cmorelli wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You just said money is irrelevant, then proceeded to list all the useful things money can do for a family? Money is just a proxy for useful things you can request.

I said money itself is irrelevant. Saying we work for money is stupid, because we don't. We work for the things money could buy. It's an arguably arbitrary distinction, but in this case it's important, because it speaks to the meaningless first statement of the original post.

How can we all be working solely for money when none of us actually care about the money - we care about all the other things that the money gets us that the original comment explicitly stated we don't care about.

Edit: I think we're on the same page here, but perhaps I could have clarified what I meant in my comment. Money itself is meaningless, as you mentioned, it's a proxy for other things we can get. Which is why it makes no sense to say we're motivated by money. We're motivated by the things we want that money to buy for us.

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

#24

Post by UK-AL »

cmorelli wrote: post #23
UK-AL wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just said money is irrelevant, then proceeded to list all the useful things money can do for a family? Money is just a proxy for useful things you can request.

I said money itself is irrelevant. Saying we work for money is stupid, because we don't. We work for the things money could buy. It's an arguably arbitrary distinction, but in this case it's important, because it speaks to the meaningless first statement of the original post. How can we all be working solely for money when none of us actually care about the money - we care about all the other things that the money ge…

When most say working for the money, what they mean is exactly what you mean. Things money can provide.

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

#25

Post by cmorelli »

nvarsj wrote: post #22
cmorelli wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I don't think OP is talking about Doctors without Borders. He's talking about the super hyped engineer at a big Ad company who says she's extremely passionate about her job. This sort of attitude is very common in the U.S., in my experience.

Ok, sure, but the OP didn't qualify his/her statements that 90%+ of us are lying when we say we're anything other than financially motivated. I'm attacking the assertion that we simply can't be intrinsically motivated by things that matter to us.

That said, I do know engineers that work at startups and actually are pumped by the vision - they're excited about what they're building and what it could mean for the future.

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

#26

Post by edw519 »

The Happy Dance

You know the feeling, when you get something working for the first time. Something that has never been done before and will never be done the first time ever again. And you just did it. You received input, thought about it, build it, tested it, changed it, stewed about it, agonized over it, redid it, and finally, finally, got output. Often beyond your wildest expectations. And you lept out of your chair and yelled, "Yeaaa!" and danced a little bit.

Sure, I have gotten this feeling from other things, from my writing, from my comedy, from sex, from when the Penguins score a goal, and most often, from others. But in the grand scale, those things rarely happen.

Writing software is different. I can Happy Dance all the time if I only set myself up for it.

In the enterprise, I hardly ever Happy Danced. In my own business, I Happy Danced almost every day. What more does one need for motivation?

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

#27

Post by dejv »

I guess I am past the need of motivation. I started coding more than 20 years ago and back then it was all about that I want to really learn how to write good software and create cool projects.

Today I am just happy to have few low pressure customers that I am maintaining products for. I kind of feel like carpenter: sure I can make a table for you and I know it will be quite good. It is not going to be the next big table that is going to be displayed on front page of big Carpentry magazine. It is going to be table for some basement, but thats ok.

I sometimes need more money for bigger purchases, (I am farmer now and equipment is so expensive) which makes me return into high pressure of valley development. And I must say that working in this environment it is always hard to find motivation other then "it is soon going to be over".

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

#28

Post by ivanjovanovic »

fb03 wrote: post #14

I strive for balance in my life, so what motivates me is the combination of being able to solve complex problems using computer technology coupled with the ability to properly care about my own physical self and the ones around me (family, good friends). I have been one of those workaholic people that only cared about amassing money. No more.

Thanks for the comment! This really reflects the way I started thinking about it lately. Sorry for the investigative tone of the following question: Was there anything in particular that enlightened you towards changing your attitude or was it just through reflection and incremental adjustment of the behaviour?

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

#29

Post by harel »

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.

If I was in it for the money alone I would have become a Hedge Fund trader. Not saying that money is not a motivation here - it is. But its not the primary motivation. Having said that, I'm no longer 20 years old and will not take an exciting project that pays below what I expect to earn, or even agree to listen to the "we'll give you equity" idiom...

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

#30

Post by cmorelli »

UK-AL wrote: post #24
cmorelli wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I said money itself is irrelevant. Saying we work for money is stupid, because we don't. We work for the things money could buy. It's an arguably arbitrary distinction, but in this case it's important, because it speaks to the meaningless first statement of the original post. How can we all be working solely for money when none of us actually care about the money - we care about all the other things that the money ge…

When most say working for the money, what they mean is exactly what you mean. Things money can provide.

Agreed. If you look solely at my comment in response to the one I replied to, it probably seems like I missed the mark. However, take it in context with the OP's comments for the topic

"I can see what is going on in my head, that I tend to materialise some image of my future self, create value for the family and the environment I live in, position myself good for the future-needed skills, have joy in what I do, have more freedom to decide of my future direction ... there are many different triggers of motivation for my actions, but from time to time they seem random and misaligned."

In that context, he's clearly referring to (at least to me it seems) deeper motivations that simply financial. So, to have the top comment on this page say 90%+ of us are motivated financially and lying if we say otherwise, in the context of this topic, I think is just wrong.

That said, I've edited my original comment to clarify I may have misunderstood the one I replied to.

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