Notes for the New Year
I don't care about becoming very wealthy. The odds of success are too low. Sam ignores the hard question, which is what is the likelihood that you will spend many years of your life on a "hard problem" (or multiple problems) that end fruitlessly? I suspect it is quite high, and the failures are underreported. I've decided to just settle for a regular five-figures job that lets me afford my hobbies, which I find much more invigorating than wealth or coding. I have a side-project, which is numerical weather prediction in mountainous regions (something unlikely to be highly profitable), but it's a tinkering project that I enjoy even if it doesn't work out.