4 ms·

What's almost more amazing is that the developer spent 1.5 years planning and 3 years developing. I find it absurd but also inspiring that someone can devote t

What's almost more amazing is that the developer spent 1.5 years planning and 3 years developing. I find it absurd but also inspiring that someone can devote that much time and energy to a hobby or unfunded personal research project.

elboru 8y ago
And even though it will reach to the top in HN and other sites we'll probably forget about it in a couple of weeks as any other meme. But then again I spend my time daily in other meaningless activities that won't even be noticed by a single person. So good for him. I hope I'll reach that level of determination in the future.
- aerique 8y ago
  No worries, I'll post it again in six to twelve months to farm karma.
  - forkandwait 8y ago
    speaking of "other meaningless activities"
    - mrsir 8y ago
      Don't worry. People will complain when they find out he's karma farming and it will bounce right back.
- songzme 8y ago
  Life feels more fulfilling when a person focus on increasing the happiness of people immediately around her instead of international fame,
jpmoyn 8y ago
It's certainly more admirable than the amount of hours I have logged playing video games.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
mislankanova 8y ago
This is also what a lot of Simcity 4 players did. Some of them have spent years building highly realistic cities, taking care of all details the game would allow them, while some devoted their effort to the making of high quality models, MODs, and various plugins that helped the 2003 game to be still full of new contents a decade after its release. Few games offer the same level of openness and depth as the (old) Simcity games does.
levesque 8y ago
Having just finished a PhD and working full time in industry, I still find myself having the appetite for some unfunded personal research projects. Clearly didn't want to continue in academia, but there seems to be no middle ground yet, apart from landing a job at Google or the like.
- btrettel 8y ago
  You can become an independent researcher. I've discussed this approach on Hacker News before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16726033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16726033
  - levesque 8y ago
    Reading your other posts makes me realize I might be headed in this direction. I'm going to be making silly amounts of money soon enough (at least what I consider to be silly), meaning I could retire in 10 years if I wanted to. I do enjoy the work I am doing, but this means I could go in whatever direction I want. One challenge would be to establish proper collaborations, because working with other people feels very pleasant and rewarding to me.
    - btrettel 8y ago
      You're right, collaboration could be difficult. I'm hoping to identify some other likeminded people in my field who I could collaborate with online at the very least.
otakucode 8y ago
The losses to the human species caused by the relentless drive to work longer and longer hours, destroying all leisure time, are utterly incalculable. Almost all great advances in art, science, and culture occurred as either a direct or indirect consequence of people working towards things which interested them during their leisure time. Bertrand Russel's "In Praise of Idleness" is more relevant now than ever before.
lalos 8y ago
How many hours in 4.5 years does an average Netflix users spend? Seems absurd to spend that time consuming than creating your own content.
- chii 8y ago
  it's much easier to consume content, and it produces endorphines just the same. Creating content (or any creative endeavour) is hard, and most people don't like hard work.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- noir_lord 8y ago
  I don't watch TV (or more correctly I very rarely watch TV). The amount of time that free's up for activities is insane, I go to Chess twice a week, cycle, spend time keeping up to date on programming stuff and still have time to read. 3hrs a day over a year is the same as 6mths of working a 40hr week.
intrasight 8y ago
An inspired artist in other mediums would spend comparable time.

elboru 8y ago

And even though it will reach to the top in HN and other sites we'll probably forget about it in a couple of weeks as any other meme. But then again I spend my time daily in other meaningless activities that won't even be noticed by a single person. So good for him. I hope I'll reach that level of determination in the future.

aerique 8y ago
No worries, I'll post it again in six to twelve months to farm karma.
- forkandwait 8y ago
  speaking of "other meaningless activities"
  - mrsir 8y ago
    Don't worry. People will complain when they find out he's karma farming and it will bounce right back.
songzme 8y ago
Life feels more fulfilling when a person focus on increasing the happiness of people immediately around her instead of international fame,

jpmoyn 8y ago

It's certainly more admirable than the amount of hours I have logged playing video games.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

mislankanova 8y ago

This is also what a lot of Simcity 4 players did. Some of them have spent years building highly realistic cities, taking care of all details the game would allow them, while some devoted their effort to the making of high quality models, MODs, and various plugins that helped the 2003 game to be still full of new contents a decade after its release. Few games offer the same level of openness and depth as the (old) Simcity games does.

levesque 8y ago

Having just finished a PhD and working full time in industry, I still find myself having the appetite for some unfunded personal research projects. Clearly didn't want to continue in academia, but there seems to be no middle ground yet, apart from landing a job at Google or the like.

btrettel 8y ago
You can become an independent researcher. I've discussed this approach on Hacker News before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16726033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16726033
- levesque 8y ago
  Reading your other posts makes me realize I might be headed in this direction. I'm going to be making silly amounts of money soon enough (at least what I consider to be silly), meaning I could retire in 10 years if I wanted to. I do enjoy the work I am doing, but this means I could go in whatever direction I want. One challenge would be to establish proper collaborations, because working with other people feels very pleasant and rewarding to me.
  - btrettel 8y ago
    You're right, collaboration could be difficult. I'm hoping to identify some other likeminded people in my field who I could collaborate with online at the very least.

otakucode 8y ago

The losses to the human species caused by the relentless drive to work longer and longer hours, destroying all leisure time, are utterly incalculable. Almost all great advances in art, science, and culture occurred as either a direct or indirect consequence of people working towards things which interested them during their leisure time. Bertrand Russel's "In Praise of Idleness" is more relevant now than ever before.

lalos 8y ago

How many hours in 4.5 years does an average Netflix users spend? Seems absurd to spend that time consuming than creating your own content.

chii 8y ago
it's much easier to consume content, and it produces endorphines just the same. Creating content (or any creative endeavour) is hard, and most people don't like hard work.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
noir_lord 8y ago
I don't watch TV (or more correctly I very rarely watch TV). The amount of time that free's up for activities is insane, I go to Chess twice a week, cycle, spend time keeping up to date on programming stuff and still have time to read. 3hrs a day over a year is the same as 6mths of working a 40hr week.

intrasight 8y ago

An inspired artist in other mediums would spend comparable time.