> If I pursue mathematics will my honeymoon end in the same disdain I’m left with now after treading water in the river of filth that is this industry, in pract

> If I pursue mathematics will my honeymoon end in the same disdain I’m left with now after treading water in the river of filth that is this industry, in practice but not heart? If you join academia, then yes, most likely. There is even more "filth" in there than in software development. If you pursue it independently like pre-XXth century mathematicians, maybe not. The idea that one can attain some sort of intellectual fulfilment as a wage worker is misguided, in my opinion.