I see that several people commented on Leonardo's curiosity. When I was about 18 or therabouts I came across a book about Leonardo. That book made a big deal about how curiosity was the driving force in Leonardo's life. I was so impressed that I started to believe curiosity was the defining characteristic of humans. And I became curious about everything around me. I chose the study of how this world works as my mission in life. I chose not to make money. I only worked to make enough money to pay the rent. The rest of the time I was in the library. But there is a downsize to this. I now believe that it's better not to be curious. It's better to concentrate on building a business and make money. Because in this world money allows you to build new things and make new discoveries. Bezos can build his own rocket and go to the moon if he wants to. Google can and does change the world. They are not doing what they are doing for curiosity's sake. So I would not advise a youngster who is starting in life to be curious like Leonardo. I would advise to make lots of money so that he/she can achieve big things. I think the era of curious and solitary researcher is over.
> I would advise to make lots of money so that he/she can achieve big things.
Just because one wants to make lots of money, does not mean one will. For every Bezos or Elon Musk, there's fifty thousand failed company founders. So, if your path to happiness has "Get Rich" as step 1, that sets you up for high likelihood of failure from the start.
I think a better path is "be curious, and look for ways to make money with the things you learn".
Nearly anyone can be a cog in the corporate machine or a code monkey - there's an infinite amount of grunt work to be done, and always will be. In my experience, people who seem to enjoy their work are those who work at intersections of disciplines and find unexpected uses for their domain knowledge.
I see that several people commented on Leonardo's curiosity. When I was about 18 or therabouts I came across a book about Leonardo. That book made a big deal about how curiosity was the driving force in Leonardo's life. I was so impressed that I started to believe curiosity was the defining characteristic of humans. And I became curious about everything around me. I chose the study of how this world works as my mission in life. I chose not to make money. I only worked to make enough money to pay the rent. The rest of the time I was in the library. But there is a downsize to this. I now believe that it's better not to be curious. It's better to concentrate on building a business and make money. Because in this world money allows you to build new things and make new discoveries. Bezos can build his own rocket and go to the moon if he wants to. Google can and does change the world. They are not doing what they are doing for curiosity's sake. So I would not advise a youngster who is starting in life to be curious like Leonardo. I would advise to make lots of money so that he/she can achieve big things. I think the era of curious and solitary researcher is over.