It's not necessarily that what you're doing is the interesting option; I'd say that it's the easier option instead.

Reading about interesting stuff is deeply satisfying, and so it's something you want to justify so you get to do more of it. Actually getting stuff done is hard.

It's a bit like why so many techies - myself included! - vastly prefer to code new app features rather than working on marketing or sales copy. One is has a definite end point, and we feel comfortable getting there.

The other one can seem like work!