Wow, I'm quite surprised and honored to come home and see that my post got so many votes. Having read through most comments below, I want to make a few points:

Wow, I'm quite surprised and honored to come home and see that my post got so many votes. Having read through most comments below, I want to make a few points: 1. I am not implying a moral obligation to do some jobs over others. Nor am I suggesting a framework to judge the value of some jobs over others. If I had known this was going to be read by so many people, I would have spent more time making sure my message was communicated more clearly. I'm sorry for giving some people the wrong idea. 2. My point is actually very simple and I expect the vast majority of Hacker News readers already get it: for people considering what jobs to do, especially young college students, be wary of focusing on the value of fun and money. Fun and money can be very distracting when you are young and haven't experienced so much freedom before. However, the decisions you make when you are young can have consequences for the trajectory of your whole life. Always think about what will give you long-term and enduring happiness and satisfaction. Often, I think long-term happiness is connected with a cause greater than your own immediate satisfaction. Hence the consideration of value creation. It's obvious advice, but I hoped my story would make it more digestible for college students.