I think Thurston's answer is absolutely to the point. If you are passionate enough about good food, you probably have a great shot at becoming a famous chef. I

I think Thurston's answer is absolutely to the point. If you are passionate enough about good food, you probably have a great shot at becoming a famous chef. I agree though that it is very dangerous advice: most people are just not passionate enough about something, but mistake fondness for passion. I'd say that applies to your "good food" example. But on the other hand, for truly passionate people it is very dangerous NOT to follow this advice. > The product of mathematics is clarity and understanding Somewhere else Thurston qualifies this in a recursive definition of mathematics that is bootstrapped with numbers and geometrical objects. I'd say in the age of the computer this qualification becomes less and less necessary: there are other things than numbers and geometrical objects that are of interest (for example distributed file systems). So more and more things are becoming amenable to clarity and understanding, if we try hard enough. I think a lot of things in computing could use a good helping of clarity and understanding.