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Ask HN: What would you be doing if you didn't have to work for a living?

4 pointsby sendosabout 8 years ago
Assuming you&#x27;re a programmer, researcher, or an entrepreneur (which I assume is a good chunk of HN readers), what would you be doing if you had enough money that you didn&#x27;t have to work for a living?<p>Would you still be doing what you are currently doing (programming, research, entrepreneurship, other) or would you retreat to some other hobby, such as traveling, painting, etc?<p>One of the reasons I&#x27;m asking is I&#x27;m wondering if, in a world where everybody has a guaranteed income, would more technological or scientific progress be made (since people are now free to pursue this without worrying about their mortgage&#x2F;rent&#x2F;food) or would less progress be made (since there is no strong profit motive to motivate people to do all the hard work)?

2 comments

xchipabout 8 years ago
I&#x27;d teach kids how to program or build things. Basically I&#x27;d spend my time transferring my knowledge to others or building things people need. Im already doing that whenever I have a chance. In fact right now I&#x27;m going to teach languages for free.
drabiegaabout 8 years ago
If I had guaranteed enough income to survive, I&#x27;d still be working and I suspect that most people would. Probably a bit fewer hours so that I could focus on hobby research a bit more, but that all depends on the resulting labor market.