Good insight, thanks. I find cutting clock cycles quite gratifying. Admittedly there is less math in that than having a bottom-up understanding of what's going

Good insight, thanks. I find cutting clock cycles quite gratifying. Admittedly there is less math in that than having a bottom-up understanding of what's going on. But you could also reframe it like any other optimization problem, given some number of inputs of a certain type. You can also prove your solution correct. It is a math problem all over. Is it safe to say that those that despise programming, also despise certain branches of math? I should add a little story. I once asked one of my friends who is very gifted in math why he prefers CS instead of pure math. His answer was something like: CS is the only field where mathematical truths can be immediately applied to reality (within the machine). It's a good balance between limitless mental masturbation and unpredictability of nature.