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Comment by nadam | Hacker News Reader

I try to find joy in creating stuff that some other people find useful or enjoy. Creating something just so that I enjoy the process but society do not value at all is something I have a very bad feeling about nowadays. Like I am wasting my time/life. As an engineer it is more rewarding for me to create a videogame that people enjoy than creating a nice optimal algorithm or solving a hard math problem.

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I understand that feeling, but recognize you yourself wouldn't play your own game (because it wastes time) but get satisfaction from others wasting their time with your creation?

Maybe you just want to be more efficient about increasing the fun experiences beyond yourself. But don't discount fun for fun's sake either!

What ends up being useful is hard to predict, so it's better just to do what you enjoy. Lots of useful math started out as just an idle curiosity, though mostly it ends up being useless. Probably most engineering projects are the same though (most end up in the dustbin sooner or later).

Solving hard math problems is a prerequisite for those video games.

While we are in a good spot right now. I'm convinced that we need a lot more progress to really make the synthesized simulations / games that I see in my imagination.

Hardware, algorithms, and architecture all have huge room for improvement.

Hard math problems are far harder and far less useful than the math of computer hardware and software.

I don’t fundamentally disagree with your attitude, but then, number theory ended up being pretty useful after about a couple of thousand years of art for art’s sake.

> Creating something just so that I enjoy the process but society do not value at all is something I have a very bad feeling about nowadays. Like I am wasting my time/life.

This is very understandable, especially in a professional setting. But - assuming one has not reached a state of total zen - one cannot live a life in complete selflessness. I am guessing there are things that you do for the sheer enjoyment: watch movies, read books, go for walks? Can the reading and practising of pure mathematics not fall under such a use of time?

You are right: it could still work as something I enjoy. It is just that I am in a state of my life where I do not want to put too much time into such an activity: I have a greater desire to create things that people want. But I still watch interesting movies and occasionally it could be joyful to solve a math problem. But as I do not watch movies dozens of hours weekly, I also do not want to solve math problems dozens of hours weekly. This has probably to do where I am in life currently. This may change later in life (I am middle aged.)

Are you asking to help nadam or to help yourself?

When I first read Nadam's post, something in me instinctively disagreed. I'm trying to explore why.

Creating videogames can be nerd sniping, too

But isn't a beautiful solution to a hard math problem as enjoyable to some people as a game is to others?

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