As the OC mentioned in a sibling comment, it's actually the societal aspect that leads people to abandon pursuing things like mathematics. When I was in grad s

As the OC mentioned in a sibling comment, it's actually the societal aspect that leads people to abandon pursuing things like mathematics. When I was in grad school, I was surrounded by people who had these interests. I could work on a cool math problem, and people would be interested. I could have a conversation with them about it. Fast forward to the "work" world, and there's not a single person I know in my city with whom I can have these discussions. And trust me, I looked. As the OC said, it becomes an incredibly lonely life. If I want to study a typical grad level math course after work hours, it can easily consume all my free time (trying to solve a given problem could take hours).[1] After a few years of trying, I had to abandon it for the sake of my mental health. In retrospect, there probably is a middle ground, and if I return to it, I'll aim for that middle ground. Intentionally choose topics I can do in bite sized amounts, and topics that I can share online that have a higher chance of engagement. [1] And this was when I was single without kids. Imagine how much less time you have with kids.