3 ms·

I had a real, authentic interest in my chosen degree subject. I really, genuinely wanted to know all about it. I didn't ever want a job (and I still don't want

I had a real, authentic interest in my chosen degree subject. I really, genuinely wanted to know all about it. I didn't ever want a job (and I still don't want one). I really, authentically wanted to be good at it for no other purpose than the pleasure of being able to fluidly understand it and play with it.

oblio 10y ago
You must be either rich or have a very frugal, possibly isolated lifestyle. Most people don't fit either of those categories.
- EliRivers 10y ago
  I didn't say I don't have a job. I said I don't want one. It turns out that I don't want to be living rough on the streets to a greater degree than I don't want a job.
  - oblio 10y ago
    Then in that case your comment doesn't add much to the conversation, to be blunt. Most people love to do something and don't like jobs (in general, or just their jobs).
    - EliRivers 10y ago
      Yet all I ever hear is how work is challenging and rewarding and people really look forwards to taking on new challenges and making a difference in the world of main street small hardware retail and how they find their job rewarding.
Mieaou 10y ago
You are so fake.
- EliRivers 10y ago
  My chosen subject was physics. It's quite common to find that physics undergrads actually want to know physics; that it's not simply a planned stepping stone to some future job. I followed up with a masters in it, and several years later did another masters, in maths, at my own expense in evenings and weekends, with the same motivation; I had been doing some mathematics, and was annoyed at how bad I was at it, and decided a masters in maths would sharpen that right up. People like me exist. We are real. We exist in the blind spots of your world, taking genuine interest in things. Learning for no other reason than that we simply want to know more. To understand more. To have a fluidity with more knowledge, more understanding. You just haven't noticed. We don't have a manifesto or a webpage because we've got more interesting things to do.

oblio 10y ago

You must be either rich or have a very frugal, possibly isolated lifestyle. Most people don't fit either of those categories.

EliRivers 10y ago
I didn't say I don't have a job. I said I don't want one. It turns out that I don't want to be living rough on the streets to a greater degree than I don't want a job.
- oblio 10y ago
  Then in that case your comment doesn't add much to the conversation, to be blunt. Most people love to do something and don't like jobs (in general, or just their jobs).
  - EliRivers 10y ago
    Yet all I ever hear is how work is challenging and rewarding and people really look forwards to taking on new challenges and making a difference in the world of main street small hardware retail and how they find their job rewarding.

Mieaou 10y ago

You are so fake.

EliRivers 10y ago
My chosen subject was physics. It's quite common to find that physics undergrads actually want to know physics; that it's not simply a planned stepping stone to some future job. I followed up with a masters in it, and several years later did another masters, in maths, at my own expense in evenings and weekends, with the same motivation; I had been doing some mathematics, and was annoyed at how bad I was at it, and decided a masters in maths would sharpen that right up. People like me exist. We are real. We exist in the blind spots of your world, taking genuine interest in things. Learning for no other reason than that we simply want to know more. To understand more. To have a fluidity with more knowledge, more understanding. You just haven't noticed. We don't have a manifesto or a webpage because we've got more interesting things to do.