I wonder if the writer of the original article misunderstood the reason he started a side project. To me it sounded like he started it to have fun, to play with

I wonder if the writer of the original article misunderstood the reason he started a side project. To me it sounded like he started it to have fun, to play with things, and to learn. Later he tacked on the goal of to make something for the world. Who feels guilty that their crossword puzzle or frisbee football or model airplane hobby has yet to yield a practical product, to sell to the rest of the world? Maybe we confuse our goals while software dabbling because software has the potential to be a product, while it's much harder to be tricked into thinking that our finished sudoku puzzle might somehow help mankind. I think it's helpful to first correctly identify your reasons for doing something, before you try to judge whether you are doing it well or should keep on doing it. For example, it helped me to identify that the real reason I check my email too often at work is because I was lonely, not just because I wanted to gain information or to give information to others. I think this is making it easier for me to stop checking email so often and to find other ways to fulfill my needs. As the writer of this response article indicates, writing software to learn or to play is a good enough reason in itself, and we need study and play for the same reason children do: to stretch ourselves. Or, more practically, it is a shortcut to pleasure. The commonly acknowledged pathway to pleasure is (1) work, (2) get paid, (3) buy something that makes you happy. But with play, the work itself makes you happy. No intermediate activity is required.