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> When people ask me about my life’s ambitions, I often joke that my goal is to become independently wealthy so that I can afford to get some work done. Mainly

> When people ask me about my life’s ambitions, I often joke that my goal is to become independently wealthy so that I can afford to get some work done. Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first, so that the finished product can be the explanation. I think this will be a major labor saving improvement. This is an excellent explanation that mirrors my own life goals, but I have struggled to put the sentiment into words this well. At the end of the day, I just want to spend (waste?) all of my time doing AI research or working on a cure for cancer, but I want to do it my own way.

baxtr 6y ago
I recommend the book or the blog posts of JL Collin. His posts are all about how to achieve financial independence https://jlcollinsnh.com/ https://jlcollinsnh.com/
- goblin89 6y ago
  Websites that aim to help people become wealthier, and yet are sprinkled with ads, inevitably give an impression that their owners consider ad revenue a viable source of income. If that is so, I’d be reluctant to follow any advice given on such a site, as I do not want to be in a position where I rely on ads for own financial independence.
  - dageshi 6y ago
    Or they feel leaving money on the table by not running ads is pretty stupid?
    - kordlessagain 6y ago
      Or users turn off Javascript on the page and never see the ads to begin with.
      - paulryanrogers 6y ago
        The content degrades into becoming ads for their books, seminars, shovels for gold miners, etc. By the time get-rich advice becomes even moderately popular it's either applicable only to saturated markets, selling the dream, has hard requirements outside the reach of most (birth, luck, credit, liquid assets, etc), or some combination of those.
  - oh_sigh 6y ago
    It's like writing a book on how to become wealthy, and the advice it gives you is to write a book on how to become wealthy.
    - devalgo 6y ago
      Of course they never admit the truth, that the only way they got rich/famous was by writing self help books and have never done anything real outside that.
    - kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
      I know someone who did exactly that. They can't quit their day job yet.
  - cpursley 6y ago
    His advice is simple: stick your money in low fee index funds.
memexy 6y ago
How is your way different from the current way it's done and what benefits would there be to your way?
- throwaway713 6y ago
  My way involves a lot more risk that nothing useful will be produced. I basically want a higher risk / reward than what working in this field as an employee would provide. I wouldn’t be able to try far out ideas if I wanted to keep my job, because it may be the case that one avenue of research never goes anywhere for years. Peter Higgs has some interesting thoughts on how he would probably not have produced anything valuable if his work had occurred in the current academic environment that prioritizes frequent publications in high impact factor journals (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-boson-academic-system https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-...)
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    I share your goals. I'd put it this way: your way involves a lot more risk of dead ends, but also offers a lot more of focused, productive deep work. In general sense, companies are set up to derisk work. It's a trade-off - we get consistency, but also mediocrity.
- felipemnoa 6y ago
  In my case I just want to follow the rabbit hole to wherever it takes me without worrying about showing results to anybody.
  - memexy 6y ago
    Why can't you do that now?
    - xboxnolifes 6y ago
      It generally leads to being fired for not completing milestones, which leads to not having income to support yourself.
elchin 6y ago
Is this similar to FIRE?
contrapunter 6y ago
>> Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first It seems as good a rational definition of faith as any.
throwawaynot 6y ago
Same. Over the years I've become obsessed with becoming financially independent, so that I can work on what I think is important and don't have to explain it to others. In the process, I've completely lost interests in achieving any success in the day job, which is the polar opposite of myself 10 years ago. Everything at work just feels so pointless now. I feel really bad but just can't help it.

baxtr 6y ago

I recommend the book or the blog posts of JL Collin. His posts are all about how to achieve financial independence https://jlcollinsnh.com/ https://jlcollinsnh.com/

goblin89 6y ago
Websites that aim to help people become wealthier, and yet are sprinkled with ads, inevitably give an impression that their owners consider ad revenue a viable source of income. If that is so, I’d be reluctant to follow any advice given on such a site, as I do not want to be in a position where I rely on ads for own financial independence.
- dageshi 6y ago
  Or they feel leaving money on the table by not running ads is pretty stupid?
  - kordlessagain 6y ago
    Or users turn off Javascript on the page and never see the ads to begin with.
    - paulryanrogers 6y ago
      The content degrades into becoming ads for their books, seminars, shovels for gold miners, etc. By the time get-rich advice becomes even moderately popular it's either applicable only to saturated markets, selling the dream, has hard requirements outside the reach of most (birth, luck, credit, liquid assets, etc), or some combination of those.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  It's like writing a book on how to become wealthy, and the advice it gives you is to write a book on how to become wealthy.
  - devalgo 6y ago
    Of course they never admit the truth, that the only way they got rich/famous was by writing self help books and have never done anything real outside that.
  - kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
    I know someone who did exactly that. They can't quit their day job yet.
- cpursley 6y ago
  His advice is simple: stick your money in low fee index funds.

memexy 6y ago

How is your way different from the current way it's done and what benefits would there be to your way?

throwaway713 6y ago
My way involves a lot more risk that nothing useful will be produced. I basically want a higher risk / reward than what working in this field as an employee would provide. I wouldn’t be able to try far out ideas if I wanted to keep my job, because it may be the case that one avenue of research never goes anywhere for years. Peter Higgs has some interesting thoughts on how he would probably not have produced anything valuable if his work had occurred in the current academic environment that prioritizes frequent publications in high impact factor journals (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-boson-academic-system https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-...)
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  I share your goals. I'd put it this way: your way involves a lot more risk of dead ends, but also offers a lot more of focused, productive deep work. In general sense, companies are set up to derisk work. It's a trade-off - we get consistency, but also mediocrity.
felipemnoa 6y ago
In my case I just want to follow the rabbit hole to wherever it takes me without worrying about showing results to anybody.
- memexy 6y ago
  Why can't you do that now?
  - xboxnolifes 6y ago
    It generally leads to being fired for not completing milestones, which leads to not having income to support yourself.

elchin 6y ago

Is this similar to FIRE?

contrapunter 6y ago

>> Mainly that’s about being able to do things without having to explain them first It seems as good a rational definition of faith as any.

throwawaynot 6y ago

Same. Over the years I've become obsessed with becoming financially independent, so that I can work on what I think is important and don't have to explain it to others. In the process, I've completely lost interests in achieving any success in the day job, which is the polar opposite of myself 10 years ago. Everything at work just feels so pointless now. I feel really bad but just can't help it.