follow your curiosity.
Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
221–230 of 460 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#222I never asked myself this question. I aim to work on what I enjoy and what's fun. I don't 100% live it -- it's a daily challenge. We all got bills to pay and it can be tempting to go for something more profitable but less fun. I don't tend to seek out problems to solve, somehow problems find me. There's always more of what I'd enjoy doing than what I realistically can with my time.
I'm not talking about passion (I don't like that word). I mean what do you consistently catch yourself doing in your spare time? What feels like not work? What would you work on even if it paid nothing? What do you think about while falling asleep? I think that what you enjoy and have fun doing is also what you'd be (conveniently) most useful at. Anything else requires more effort, willpower, energy, and may not be sustainable or healthy in the long run.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#223I got some good advice about a decade ago, which I've used for guidance and, on reflection, has served me well. You're not well-positioned to understand the core nature of problems, and which are most important, from the outside. Until you have this clarity, do what you can to become part of the core community driving the thinking in your field of choice. There's a strong case for the social importance of many proble…
The reason energy and AI are more attractive than healthcare has little to do with "identity", "culture" or "positionality". It has much more to do with the fact that the field is chock full of incidental complexity that makes doing any kind of good work an extremely unrewarding slog. Look at the 834 EDI format [1], for example. Does anyone want to work with a file format as nasty as this? Does anyone want to work in an industry where data is exchanged by uploading files to FTP servers, and waiting a day to see if it was successfully processed? And finally, does anyone want to work in an industry where they have absolutely zero power to change any of the above?
As engineers and humans, we like to do good work, in a field where we have the autonomy to choose best practices. Health care makes it difficult to do that. I don't think it's productive to call people out for choosing not to work in a field where they have to deal with arbitrary and capricious rules, ignorant bureaucracies, and massive amounts of incidental complexity which has nothing to do with the primary objective: keeping people healthy.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_834_Enrollment_Implementa...
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#224I think my most valuable career choices have come from imagining what potential sci-fi futures could be. What sort of stories would be told given some technological problems solved in the coming years? Then I look for the problems that are interesting and engaging and invest time there. It's impossible for one person to build some utopian system that solves humanities problems, but designing and imagining such a system at least provides some insight as to where those future opportunities will be.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#225I think my most valuable career choices have come from imagining what potential sci-fi futures could be. What sort of stories would be told given some technological problems solved in the coming years? Then I look for the problems that are interesting and engaging and invest time there. It's impossible for one person to build some utopian system that solves humanities problems, but designing and imagining such a syst…
Example?
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#226Lulz. It sounds like you don’t have kids. If kids are in your future then do that before asking this question. They will guide the rest of your life.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#227Paul Graham wrote an essay on this topic, aimed towards high-school students. His advice: stay upwind http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html > Instead of working back from a goal, work forward from promising situations. This is what most successful people actually do anyway. > Suppose you're a college freshman deciding whether to major in math or economics. Well, math will give you more options: you can go into almost any…
That sounds like "life your life in analysis paralysis, and never decide to actually do anything"
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#228I solve my own problems and do not worry about the rest of humanity. You guys will fetch for yourselves.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#229These fokes devoted quite some time into thinking about your problem: https://80000hours.org/ From their homepage: "You have 80,000 hours in your career. Make the right career choices, and you can help solve the world’s most pressing problems, as well as have a more rewarding, interesting life. We’re here to give you the information you need to find that fulfilling, high-impact career. Our advice is all free, tailore…
My biggest issue with 80,000 hours is that it's a rational, but radically uninspiring advice in the end. It is a framework for those who buy into "don't follow your passion advice", and try to maximize their utility function instead.
My passion is for utility
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#230Paul Graham wrote an essay on this topic, aimed towards high-school students. His advice: stay upwind http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html > Instead of working back from a goal, work forward from promising situations. This is what most successful people actually do anyway. > Suppose you're a college freshman deciding whether to major in math or economics. Well, math will give you more options: you can go into almost any…
I did pretty much like he advised, though I haven't seen this article before now.
I got bored at high school and life in general. I discovered programming and thought that it's fascinating. So I decided to learn programming. I self-learned and started building my own projects, big and small.
But now a couple years after my biggest regret is exactly the same, why did I waste so much time at high school and why didn't I start earlier.