I try to find the intersection of my interests. You'd be surprised by the opportunities that are available when you know what to look for.
Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
391–400 of 460 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#392My grandfather got me interested in genealogy. I was haunted by the chain of humble ancestors that link me back to prehistory. To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. I decided to develop a family history app to help others tell the story of their family. Thirty years later I'm still having a blast.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#393These 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…
Before 80,000 Hours started, there was Giving What We Can - which gave me meaning in my life. It reminded me of how incredibly fortunate I am to be where I am: earning even $50k/year puts me in the richest 2% of the world! https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/get-involved/how-rich-am-i/ This means giving 10% of my income to cost-effective charities that help other individuals is entirely within my means. Over the years, w…
Can you share some blogs, names etc of the amazing people?
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#394My grandfather got me interested in genealogy. I was haunted by the chain of humble ancestors that link me back to prehistory. To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. I decided to develop a family history app to help others tell the story of their family. Thirty years later I'm still having a blast.
This is actually a project I was looking to take on myself! I love preserving my family's history (photos, stories, memories) and it's very important to me. I'd like to develop some sort of central collection of everything that my entire extended family can peruse, and that the future generations of my family can maintain and update. I'd love to know what you're working on in that space. Mind sharing? :)
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#395Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought about it a lot, It's what I strive for, I'm liking it. It's more like: I'm suggesting you get paid for doing your hobby.
My hobby says, “implement a solution to control HVAC in a recreational vehicle using a Raspberry Pi.” I work on it when I feel like it, and if I get bored with it I repurpose the Pi for something else. My job says I have to implement a CSV parser for a customer’s unique idea of “CSV”, and by the end of the week whether I find it interesting or not. (Well, not my job, thank $DEITY. But for many.)
So.. Have you ever looked for jobs in home automation or contacted your hvac producer?
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#396This is the recurring dilemma of choosing something out of passion (what I want) or utility (what I should). Passion gives energy, utility gives meaning. There's a balance between the two. Some are lucky to have both, most end up with something that has none.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#397Work on longevity so you won't have to decide.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#398Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is also (arguably) the point of "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Not_Taken
Wow, a great poem.
It is, but like all poetry, its interpretation is in the eye of the beholder. This 2015 article suggests the poem is actually NOT about boldly taking the path less traveled.
" The poem isn’t a salute to can-do individualism; it’s a commentary on the self-deception we practice when constructing the story of our own lives. “The Road Not Taken” may be, as the critic Frank Lentricchia memorably put it, “the best example in all of American poetry of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” But we could go further: It may be the best example in all of American culture of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. "
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/09/11/the-most-misr...
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#399I think you'll want to first choose your principles and set some priorities, and only then choose your best path.
At age 61, I'm nearing the end of my professional journey. Initially, I chose jobs that solved "sweet" technical problems, often AI-related or computationally hard, on behalf of the military or intelligence agencies. In time, I began to question the value of those missions and left to seek a legacy involving less "collateral damage".
After a stint in academia (which I eventually felt was too tangential to real world concerns to make a real difference), I moved into healthcare. After 13 years, I'm still involved in AI (image analysis), but here it's on behalf of making drugs that treat diseases that are largely incurable: cancer, alzheimer's and ALS, HIV vaccines, etc.
Yes, the short term economic priorities of large corporations are sometimes troubling. But my role isn't to maximize profits; it's to enable scientific breakthroughs that can make lives better and longer. And I can live with that. Likewise, I think you'll need to decide these things for yourself.
Re: Ask HN: How did you decide what problems to solve in your lifetime?
#400I'm reminded of this talk by Richard Hamming: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html