an archive to facilitate a rebuilding after im dead and gone and people reemerge from the chaos
Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
11–20 of 31 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#12I love being able to automate things that I hate doing and being paid very well for knowing how to do it
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#13For my personal / side projects?
Sure I'd love to make money doing the type of stuff I do there, but I'm initially driven by curiosity.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#14I am building stepping stones for a future in which AI and small robots can help to heal our bodies and other useful tasks ...
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#15>On what project are you right now and what is fueling you ?
I don't know anymore.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#16Working on a hotel concierge AI. Goal is to make a billion people's lives easier.
Have helped 10,000,000+ hotel guests already.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#17I don't think you can get useful answers or of this thread simply because most humans don't have metacognitive introspective awareness; it's not something we evolved to have, in fact it is something that would bring negative reproductive fitness, given that the brain has mechanisms to actually hide the root motivation for our urges.
The best way would be to study the neuroscience of human motivation. There's a specific brain circuit involved. But from another perspective, we do what we do to fulfill various needs, mostly security and belonging. That can result in things as complex as status games.
Things are a lot more complex than that, if you consider the evolutionary history of the brain stem, limbic system and the cortex, each newer system is able to override the older one, resulting in completely different behaviour.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#18I just try to do good.
My long game is the afterlife. Every philosophy and religion says that if you do good in this life, the next life will be better. If there is no afterlife, I will have lived a good life at least.
It's also really practical; doing good and helping people costs little and gives you the best deals and connections. It highlights the parasites in your life. It brings you closer to other generous people and pushes away the selfish ones.
Wealth is also a really odd thing - most people with wealth choose to invest it rather than enjoy it. Those who enjoy their wealth, whether it's buying a better car or a gold toilet seat, they mostly enjoy the purchase, but not the state of having the thing they bought.
Spending wealth to help others gives you more of a buyer's high, and you don't have to deal with say, the payments of the more expensive car or the guilt of having a gold toilet seat.
Wealth isn't just cash, but also energy and time. Spending my time and energy on vices feels bad. Whereas spending it to help others - teaching, mentoring, assisting, learning, blogging, these are all good life experiences, whether or not there's a return on investment.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#19Honestly I like to learn and I love the feeling of "yeah, now I get it"
Re: Ask HN: Why you do what you do?
#20> For some people it’s just money
Money is a terrible motivator, because when you reach certain monetary events, it doesn't matter how much it is, how you feel internally will decide how you feel about the money.
That's why you should always find something that makes you feel really alive, and the money should follow naturally. If it doesn't follow naturally, then find ways to make it follow naturally. Charge money for whatever it is that makes you feel alive.