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Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#361

Post by Nursie »

mostafab wrote: post #93
Nursie wrote: post #4

Money amd free time. I won't work on things I fundamentally disagree with but what's important to me is life outside of work. I try to maximise my income and the availability of non-work time. As a contractor this is what I get to do, make a packet and take a few months off here and there. People with a drive to achieve in a particular area may be after a different sort of satisfaction in life I guess.

that's a defeatist attitude. If you had unlimited money, how would you spend your time? that's how you will find what to work on.

> that's a defeatist attitude.

It really isn't. I have a great life, and I also get to work on some interesting stuff because I'm good at what I do. I help my clients to deliver, and get satisfaction from that.

> If you had unlimited money, how would you spend your time?

Travelling and seeing the world with other people, in luxury.

Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#363

Post by icebraining »

dfgert wrote: post #325

Life is not meant to be controlled based on your understanding of world because as human being we all suffer from subjectivity and fallacies. Learn to silence your brain and feel the life around you and in yourself. Listen to it and your role in this world would become apparent.

How many people do you know who have tried that, and how did that work out for them?

Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#364

Post by ivanmaeder »

adim86 wrote: post #187

It is great that you are thinking of this and from my experience, it will continue to come up even after you have solved this one and you become more of an expert in the path you have chosen. Something to help with the paralysis is to note that you are in a very privileged position. Majority of the world is not plagued by this issue because the problem they have to solve is how to survive. So, in other words, there i…

> I will advise that you pick the one that seems to generate the most passion in you, not in the follow your passion sense, but more of the fact that there will be HARD times ahead when solving HARD problems and only the love of finding the solution is gonna take you through it.

This is useful and not always talked about.

Whatever you choose you're going to have to deal with crap you don't like: where are you more willing to put up with it?

Also related to this: think about which process (daily grind, slog…) you prefer. Not just the end goal/success.

Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#365

Post by dogcomplex »

selestify wrote: post #298
dragonsky67 wrote: post #273

Why do you feel the need to work on a "Big Problem"? Do you feel the need to leave a legacy, or do you really want to make things better by working on paridgm changing enabling technology? I think there is a problem with trying to target your attention on world changing technology, in that it is very rare for the world to be changed in a big way by direct effort towards change. I think this is related to both the dif…

> History is full of people who made big changes to the world. Those who made a positive contribution seem to mostly have emerged from obsecurity after spending years labouring at improving something small and succeeding in a remarkable way. Very interesting. Can you give a few specific examples of this for me to look into? How have you come to the conclusion that this is a trend?

James Burke's "The Day the Universe Changed" series. A history of inventions, how one led to another, often in stupid tiny ways brought about by pure luck - or the right person working on the smallest thing at the right time. Fantastic series if you're into old british documentaries that you can put on in the background while tinkering btw.

Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#366

Post by dogcomplex »

diminoten wrote: post #338
selestify wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> History is full of people who made big changes to the world. Those who made a positive contribution seem to mostly have emerged from obsecurity after spending years labouring at improving something small and succeeding in a remarkable way. Very interesting. Can you give a few specific examples of this for me to look into? How have you come to the conclusion that this is a trend?

28 words written, with the expectation of many many orders of magnitude more in response. This is a social zip bomb, and it's not very nice. Don't spend other people's time like this, do some research yourself if this genuinely interests you.

We got you covered. Or rather - other media has you covered. Just gotta link requests like these to some book/series/etc they might (but probably won't) read/watch ;)

Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#367

Post by stinos »

selestify wrote: post #302
stinos wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The focus should not be on "what," but on "why." So, like a good git commit message :P Jokes aside, good point and imo the number one answer to the question. Not sure why you got a dwonvote even. If you're ok with material benefits then yeah, anything goes of course. But that only gets you so far and indeed real value seems to lie beyond that. It took me alomost half a life to realize it, but altruism really does giv…

What does "real value" mean to you?

Good question, not easy to answer. I guess for me it's a state of mind with a general, prolonged, feeling of satisfaction/hapiness. Which in turn makes me feel energetic and creative and keep an open mind.

Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#368

Post by NeedMoreTea »

dogcomplex wrote: post #365
selestify wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> History is full of people who made big changes to the world. Those who made a positive contribution seem to mostly have emerged from obsecurity after spending years labouring at improving something small and succeeding in a remarkable way. Very interesting. Can you give a few specific examples of this for me to look into? How have you come to the conclusion that this is a trend?

James Burke's "The Day the Universe Changed" series. A history of inventions, how one led to another, often in stupid tiny ways brought about by pure luck - or the right person working on the smallest thing at the right time. Fantastic series if you're into old british documentaries that you can put on in the background while tinkering btw.

Every series he ever did is worth a watch. Connections were of the same mould, but even more random chains of events of how something ancient led to something modern.

A digression, but topical today is "After the Warming" from the 80s about climate change. Quite remarkable if a little optimistic about our chances of doing something. Lots of 80s VR and CGI, which you have to forgive a little. Pleasingly free of dumbing down.

Probably some of these on Youtube.

Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?

#370

Post by ternaryoperator »

I believe that service is a function of who you are, rather than what you do. I have met people in healthcare who are superficial, while one of the deepest thinkers I know spent his entire working life in insurance. Make your service how you live your life: loving, real, generous, intelligent--so that whatever your field of endeavor you will help the people in it and through them the greater world.

After that, your choices will become clearer and in many ways, the choice of work will matter less because it will be informed by who you are. Any choice that interests you and that pays the bills well enough will likely be right enough.

As Gandhi (I believe) once said (not verbatim): "Is the street sweeper or the cobbler not noble by the honesty of his work and the kindness of his soul?"

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