Ask HN: Is it OK for me to not want to conquer the world?

Of course it's OK. Check out some existentialist philosophy. Life is absurd and meaningless, and the only meaning it has is the meaning you give it.

Telecommuting doesn't have to be the easy way out. Remember that really important projects like the Linux kernel are developed by remote developers collaborating.

Also, theres no great rush to change the world. The world is changing faster than ever due to a renaissance created by the internet and other technologies.

The only rush is if you want to grab riches from the process, but it will happen whether or not you participate. If you don't want riches, the rational strategy is not to adopt a work lifestyle that will stress your body and take years off your life.

Also remember that you are a developer and that you can work more efficiently than almost any other type of worker by leveraging technology and automation.

Remember that you can create something far more valuable by yourself in one day in 2013 than a team of developers could in a month in the 90's by capitalizing on the vast treasure of open source software available to you today for free.

That's a lot more encouragement than I hoped for. I was just confused if doing what I want is right or wrong, if not having a greater goal is wrong. I have some clue about it now.

I would say it's okay to not want to conquer the world. But you should want to conquer your world. Finding something that you're passionate about is key to living a fulfilled life, at least in my opinion. You don't need to start some big company or whatever. But you should try to achieve more than "hack on stuff, go to bed at 3am and just loaf around".

You've recognized that being a workaholic sucks and usually leads nowhere. That's good - a lot of people waste their lives slaving over some terrible, meaningless job. But I don't think the correct response is to just take the easy way out and "be lazy", for lack of a better term. The correct response is find something that you want to spend hours every day on.

For me, personally, at age 80, I want to look back on my life and say, hey, I accomplished some pretty cool stuff and enjoyed doing it.

Agree to what you said. Right now my mind is too distracted to think about what I want to do in granular level. But yes, doing something meaningful is always top of the list. It helps me get motivated to think that what I'm doing will help others.

I strongly believe that you should do whatever makes you happy. I think people tend to underestimate the practical value of being happy. I tend to be much more creative and energetic when I'm happy. I also feel that being happy makes me a better influence on the people around me.

I'm also going to point you to http://www.paulgraham.com/todo.html. I think that essay is very applicable to living life well.

The link was very helpful. Thank you.

World needs people like you who take it slowly. Slow and deep thinking can produce great breakthroughs. Working hard and stressing your body to "change the world" is groupthink in many cases. Einstein was sleeping more than 10 hours and spent hours in his boat. There is definitely a place for people who take it slow.

Life is more than a race to see how high you can get into the upper-middle class.

That said, some of the most amazing things and friendships arise from adversity, and don't be surprised if you never have the same experiences as people who went out on the sharp end and did the hard, rushed thing.

Ultimately, do what you think you'll enjoy most--and don't regret it, whatever that turns out to be.

EDIT: Minor quibble with one thing you said--No one wants to take time to analyze a problem before pouncing on it."

Usually a thorough analysis is not worth it, especially if the assumptions and models backing the problem are based in business; these can change, and then you are left with no code and a fascinating insight into a present which no longer exists.

If you're doing a problem set or working through SICP, sure, but at the end of the day, real artists ship.

You probably have read this story as a kid but here you go again

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tortoise_and_the_Hare

"it seems like the easy way out."

Not really. It is your way. Everyone has to figure out what works for them and make it count. If you want to stay home and work at your own pace, so be it. What will matter is how dedicated you are towards your goal whatever the method is. The destination matters but how you get there is what life is all about (I know this is a quote somewhere...)

Many great inventions who changed the world took more than 20 years of development and research. I don't think the web has the same effect as some of these world changers. Most of them are just services, and those evolve so fast that thinking they're changing the world is wrong point of view. See Twitter, before them it were many other messaging options, but now they're the cream of that, next in line it will be maybe others, and so on. So, right now you can change the world for just a few years :), that's because everyone rushes.

For a lot of us on hacker news, we're very fortunate, and can lead very comfortable lives doing non-stressful, mentally rewarding work. You've found something you want; go for it.

The reason we work is 1) to provide for the needs and desires of ourselves and our family, and 2) to perform meaningful tasks that give us structure, satisfaction, and self-actualization.

If a certain type of work is not providing you these, then do not pursue it.

Put equivalently, if doing tasks XYZ does not make you (or your family) happy, do not do them.

Put equivalently, pursue work-life balance. When you are 10 years older, and/or if/when you start a family, this will be vital to having a happy life.

the purpose of life is death. You were born to die. Everyone is.

SO its not the goal but the journey. Really is the journey

http://yudkowsky.net/singularity/simplified

http://www.nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon.html

http://lesswrong.com/lw/k8/how_to_seem_and_be_deep/

i think your main problem is the need to ask hn for validation.

do what you want. it's your life.

Yes. I know. I'm a bit confused. But I think I have a grasp on it now. Thanks. :-)