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Comment by OminousWeapons | Hacker News Reader

Because being somewhat of a workaholic or craving power / money / achievement is how they got to be wealthy in the first place. This is roughly akin to asking "why don't strong and fit people stop going to the gym?"

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But unlike going to the gym, acquiring a certain level of wealth gives you the means to continue to accumulate wealth. At the point that you're worth $10MM, you could live an upper middle class existence indefinitely with even a fairly pedestrian set of investments.

richness is not only money, it's human relations, quality of life, all things that need some kind of work

True but I don't think the article was referencing work that goes into maintaining social standing, rather direct professional work.

Sure, you could, but the point is that they have a worldview which prioritizes work and achievement which is why they keep pushing. The work / achievement / resource obtainment is the goal itself, not quality of life as others would define it.

If people stayed fit after getting in shape one time I think most would stop, your metaphor only works if we made some kind of capital gains scenario for fitness.

I disagree.

I enjoy the act of exercising and the immediate effects following excercise. Most people that are very into fitness or exercise enjoy it as well.

I think you're missing the point though. These are people who aren't optimizing for quality of life as most people define it (i.e. work as little as possible and reap maximal rewards and time with people you care about). Work / achievement / solving problems / obtaining resources becomes the goal itself. It is never enough because you can always have more / there is always something else to do / there is always another problem to solve / there is always another company to start etc.

Its the same thing for people who are serious about the gym. You can deadlift 600 lbs? Cool, now its time to try to get to 650. If you hit 650 it is time to plan for 700.

No, I really don't think they would. The gym is a lot of people's "third place[0]". Not to mention that exercise in particular releases happy chemicals independent of whether or not it is making/keeping you fit.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place

I'm a lifetime "fitness person" and I know for myself and quite a few others like me that being fit is a side effect of exercise not the primary goal.

I can understand hiking, soccer, whatever fun types of exercise. But you would keep lifting weights and doing cardio workouts when you could no longer make gains and it had no impact on your health/mood? Getting/staying strong is a pretty huge part of working out for me.

> "why don't strong and fit people stop going to the gym?"

You know, in the beforetimes, I went to the gym and asked myself that question a lot. (Just usually more in the context of grumbling "why didn't this incredibly buff dude unload all these plates from this machine")

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