3 ms·

Because my family need feeding and housing.

• gfodor 7y ago
  I gather your response here is meant to be a retort to the idea that you should be working on the most important ideas in your field, or that the question by Hamming implies some sort of judgement if you are not. That's not the point of the question. The point of the question is for you to reflect on the reasons you are not, as a means to helping you guide your future choices insofar as working on things that are important matter to you. (Which for some, may be not important at all.) Many people do not reflect on the reasons they work on the things they work on, or on the weight they give to the import of the problems they are solving, and so need such a question to be asked to help them to understand their needs, motives, and goals. When I first read the question I was in a situation where yes, I had financial needs that were pre-conditions for a job, but I failed to recognize the degree of choice I had over the problem space or system I was working in with regards to focusing on problems I cared about solving (or, more commonly, avoiding working on problems I considered meaningless or superficial.)