I think you are discounting the "helped people" part. Your boss says what he says because he sees little value in your efforts. You answering questions on stack

I think you are discounting the "helped people" part. Your boss says what he says because he sees little value in your efforts. You answering questions on stackoverflow does not affect him. But it does affect the people you've have helped. >And it probably has some economic value too, doesn't it? Yes it does. It has economic value for the person whose job you probably saved. It has economic value for the person whom you probably helped get a job by explaining a difficult concept. There is economic value for the person whom you helped in shipping a feature for their customers. Your boss does not see from this prospective but the people you've helped do. >That says I'm worth something, doesn't it? Absolutely. I remember reading a quote, I think it was from Lewis Carroll. One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others. > $3 would buy me a cup of coffee With diminishing returns. An answer on stackoverflow is more valuable than a cup of cofee simply because it provides far more value to far more people for a much longer time.