Thanks, cowmoo, for your story. It could have been mine.
I too went to an "artsy liberal arts college". I majored in English for about 3 weeks. Then it was math forever. I was also fortunate enough to join a social fraternity and had the time of my life (not just the parties, but all of it including managing a small "business").
Upon graduation, I had 2 choices: continue on to pursue my PhD in math or get my MBA and go into IT. As much as I loved math, it was an easy choice because I had already discovered the answer to your question by then. It's both, but mainly the people. A career in IT has given me ample doses of both and I've never looked back. I was always afraid that if I had continued in math I may have become a recluse again.
I love hacking into the wee hours of the night. It's so cool making something out of nothing that only another hacker soul could understand. Sounds like you do.
But just as much, I enjoy sharing my code and seeing people use it. Sometimes when I write something particularly cool, I find myself thinking something like, "I bet Jane will love this!"
Here's another question in response to your original question:
If your write the coolest app in the forest and no one ever uses it, does it make a sound?
Comments
Thanks, cowmoo, for your story. It could have been mine.
I too went to an "artsy liberal arts college". I majored in English for about 3 weeks. Then it was math forever. I was also fortunate enough to join a social fraternity and had the time of my life (not just the parties, but all of it including managing a small "business").
Upon graduation, I had 2 choices: continue on to pursue my PhD in math or get my MBA and go into IT. As much as I loved math, it was an easy choice because I had already discovered the answer to your question by then. It's both, but mainly the people. A career in IT has given me ample doses of both and I've never looked back. I was always afraid that if I had continued in math I may have become a recluse again.
I love hacking into the wee hours of the night. It's so cool making something out of nothing that only another hacker soul could understand. Sounds like you do.
But just as much, I enjoy sharing my code and seeing people use it. Sometimes when I write something particularly cool, I find myself thinking something like, "I bet Jane will love this!"
Here's another question in response to your original question:
If your write the coolest app in the forest and no one ever uses it, does it make a sound?
I'll respond in kind, with my favorite koan:
One day, the apprentice startup wanabe asked the master hacker, "does a dog have true hacker-nature or not?"
The master hacker replied, "woof!"