Losers sit in patent offices dreaming of the theories that gets rovers to mars, or the universal model of computation that allowed computers to exist. People told they must be Bigly Winners become reality-star presidents and certainly set an example.
Thinking a desire to win is necessary to exert effort is intriguing.
"Win at what you do" is one of those rah-rah go-getter mindset phrasing that has infected the Western world. Do you "win" at being happy? Having fulfilling relationships? Is everything a game/competition, to be measured with winning and losing?
I think the author is getting stuck in tactics, not strategy.
Problem: OP does not have the freedom to pursue what he finds interesting.
Tactic: Given existing work arrangements, attempt to negotiate a setup where he can just work on what he wants. If the employer changes its mind, OP gets to restart the cycle.
Strategy: Avoid having this problem in the first place.
If I wanted to study zoonotic viruses, I would put labs in places filled with universities or government agencies focused on disease, like Boston, Atlanta, Maryland.
Check out nonduality. It’s amusing that we insist that consciousness, which we experience firsthand, must be created by matter, which we experience indirectly. The image creating the screen.
This falls into the thinking “pure math is ok, since it will often become practical on a long enough time horizon”. Why not “pure math is ok because that’s what people want to do”?
Whether you can get funded for your explorations is a separate question, but no justification is needed for them.
I hear you, same boat. Tried the big corp thing, startup lottery grind, settled on an easy remote gig (part time) while I run headfirst towards FIRE. Working great for stress levels so far.
I think total, not relative, suffering matters. Killing 10x the population of Mesopotamia in the Iraq war isn’t assuaged because it’s low as a percentage of the population. The amount of absolute suffering has increased drastically.
Yes, doing drugs in the 60s was a real privilege. He almost didn’t get adopted because his adoptive parents weren’t well educated enough. And he dropped out of college because he was burning his parents life savings.
I think gift cards have the implied context of “treat yourself”. Ie I might give a gift card for your favorite restaurant. The cash might just be used at the gas pump or buying groceries.
That you can examine your negative thoughts/emotions mindfully, let them play out and then pass away. They rarely return, and the number of thoughts that trouble me has dropped ~95% in the last few years.
Thinking a desire to win is necessary to exert effort is intriguing.