Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?

LMU alumn here

Working on software that improves democracy is somting that is urgently needed and that you can only really do with that kind of financial independence.

hence, nobody is working on it.

congratulations, you have just become financial independent this just means you don't have to worry about money. You still have to worry about your health no amount of money can help you in that department ask billionaires spending fortunes on anti aging so don't stop working out.

Money is just means, similar to how you converted eth to real money you need to convert real money into real experiences. There are doors open to you now to travel to scenic places, experience different cultures, experience different cuisines, learn new things for which you never had time get exposure to new skills you may or may not like them. When i got retired i tried horse riding although i never had any inclination towards it but just enrolled it to see where it goes did not liked it much, tried shooting liked it, tried swimming liked it, tried ski-ing did not liked it, tried singing i was really bad at it. Finally settled for building sofware as i guess i like building stuff as hobby i just don't like it as profession where i have to deal with deadlines other constraints etc. Experiment and see what you like.

Last but not the least you don't really need money to do most of these things, you arbitrarily decided that you needed money because society/culture/conditioning made you believe it. you can be happy without it as well if you realize that you may as well wonder what was the fuss all about.

I once had a general chemistry professor that had made a significant amount of money off a patent. He kept a small townhouse near the university and flew his private plane in each week to teach his few classes then would fly home for the weekend. He was no longer burdened with the publish or perish game and was able to focus solely on doing what he enjoyed most. The students got a professor actually focused on teaching and the university got a competent professor willing to teach the least desirable introductory classes. Wins all around.

How can a marriage and having kids move you out of depression?

How can you be a good partner and a good parent if you can't even find the drive to live?

Feels like one could get into even more difficulties when relationships and parenting get hard, even with money.

I see this advice everywhere, "Just have children.". I do not understand how this is sensible advice for people that are obviously not fit to be parents at their present moment.

Get a nice bicycle.