What drives you, members of SEN? Why are you going to school, or have the job you do? Why do you have the hobbies you have? What do you want out of life? Where do you want to be in five years or ten years?

It was an easy choice to study computer science. I enjoy programming and software engineers get paid well. Last summer I got a taste of the industry while working as a paid intern at a local tech startup. I had no idea what I was doing, but it was fun!

I suppose I could have been a history or government major, but I'd rather write programs than essays. And I'd end up being a teacher or professor, and that wouldn't be a good job for my personality type.

Because I love editing, I love solving problems, and I'm anal-retentive about organization. In five years, I still want to be where I am. In ten years, I'd love to still be where I am.

I am driven by entertaining myself, mostly, and providing the means to keep that possible.
I have my current job because, obviously, I need money to pay rent and food and gas. But mostly because my job is pretty easy and gives me essentially 8 hours of spare time to read, watch youtube, or do whatever. xD And outside of work I have plenty of free time to do the things following this response.
I love programming because I enjoy making things, figuring stuff out and having a reason to continue learning about stuff (like advancing my math skills to play with 3D programming in OpenGL), and I love music because it's awesome getting together with friends and making a ruckus!
I guess I just want enjoyment out of life. Do what I love, and have fun doing it. ;o
In 5 or 10 years I want to be programming more or playing music more. Or preferably both! (... I'm not very good at solidified long-term goals. xD)

I'm studying information systems because it is interesting and I've the skills to do that. I just passed my last exam for my bachelor degree, so I will officially acqure my degree in a few weeks. Masters degree is next (because it's financially stupid to not try it).

I'm creating things in the sc2 editor because I can and I enjoy it. I think, creating things and solving problems is what I do and like. I think I've created a need to create things over the last half of my life so far. That's definetly what drives me forward.
I think the sc2 editor is my favorite tool to create things in general as it comes with social aspects. You have an audience that actually uses what I'm creating and you have other people doing the same things in a smaller community.

I am starting studies in Philosophy. After three years off school, trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life, I ended up choosing that path for mainly three reasons:
1) Not very many programs were open for the Winter trimester, very few of which I was interested in;
2) Having read and been interested mostly only in non-fiction books throughout those last few years, I thought going for Philosophy would be something useful in a few ways: increase my capacity to understand complex situations or debates, and provide myself with a type of knowledge that (I hope) will fuel my brain with endless entertainment for the rest of my life;
3) I have had the feeling that humanity as a whole would benefit a lot from having its population to be well-informed and educated in the field of Philosophy, so I wanted to "lead the way" (in the sense that I want to do what I think is the right thing to do).

Coming back home for the winter to try out Philosophy had been the plan for this year, in order to give it a try and actually see where it goes. If I end up really loving it and find it as relevant as I think it will be, I will keep studying it. However, the job opportunities are obviously quite slim so... I have been trying fairly hard to find the perfect job that would suit my principles, my desire to have free time, and be able to put food on the table.
So far, I think I have done quite good in terms of enjoying life while still being able to put a pretty decent amount of money aside. I have been working only 3 months per year for the last three years, and I have been able to travel quite a bunch around North America. Tree planting is a great job for its environment and its good-people... and the good money. Cherry picking is great for its environment and good-people as well, and it only requires one to work about 6 hours per day... so as long as you work hard enough, you can build up a good chunk of money to set aside.

This trimester, I subscribed for 3 courses of Philosophy, and I will be taking a course in Programming to learn C+ and Java, and I have been thinking about adding a Spanish course too.
Spanish will be useful for my travels down in South America. Programming could come in handy if I ever wanted to start working in that field.

For the next two or three years, I think I will keep travelling, and studying leisurely. After that, I am fairly convinced that I will be starting to get this urge to settle down, and that's when I'll want to study something that would then suit my needs of that moment. Geomatic, programming, mathematics, biology, forest engineer, geography, and psychology, are all options I have thought about.
In five years, I should have figured out a pretty solid work-or-study plan.
In ten years, I hope I will be just as happy as I am now.

This is all very vague, and not very well connected to each other, but heh... it's pretty late so... good night SEN!

Philosophy is great, but it has zero application to any real world scenario. If you want to help and inspire people, you have to do things that have a direct benefit to them. Debating the nuances of poverty does nothing, but if you're out on the street handing out soup, then people will listen to what you have to say. Helping people starts by doing things. Most people view philosophers as some lofty professors off in their own world, they can't really see how a discussion about whether or not it's an ethical imperative to save a drowning child actually affects their day to day lives, and thus, it's not important to them.

The best way to motivate someone is to show them how helping the environment will benefit them.

If you like traveling and seeing things why not become an archaeologist or something where you can work out in the field. Most of us science-y types don't like even thinking about dirt, let alone being exposed to it. It really helps to have people willing to dig in and do the exploring for us, plus you could help save like endangered species or things of that nature.

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Artificial intelligence is my direction of choice, which blends logic, computer science, and mathematics into one single discipline (and a dabble or two of ethics). The challenges about how to get computers to think interests me strongly.

No school but I believe I've found a solution to attend this next year, if I can overcome my anxiety to actually talk to someone and get it all planned out. But in the mean time I have a full time job and going to get a second part time one so I can keep my sights set on where I want to go. Life won't give you want you want unless you grab it by the collar with both hands and shove it against the wall.

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Dec 10 2013, 4:59 pm by Sacrieur.

In order to be able to do what you think is right, you must have determined what you think is right first. I came to understand that what people generally think is "right" can often end up being wrong, based on different perspectives. Knowing which perspective to look from is a more complex thing than we think.
Convincing people is not necessarily the goal of this field study, but rather to have the ability to clearly see through complex situations and debates.
You can think, for example, that handing out soup is a great way of helping out people, yet if you had taken the time to think about it, maybe you would have figured out a more efficient way of helping others. And in order to be able to do that, you need to have a clear view of the problem and the different solutions proposed.

I haven't done much research about that particular job. I would tend to believe that there wouldn't be very many jobs in that field.

This video proves you wrong!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu3v87_97Hc

My solution is to build robots that hand out soup.

Sure they would. I doubt that a lack of leadership is the problem, though, as most normal people don't strive to avoid becoming well-informed and educated. Humanity as a whole would benefit if the average person actually had the time for that.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but don't expect to get a job with a couple of courses. (This might be biased on my part, I've got math degrees and some programming knowledge and it hasn't worked out for all of the job applications I've done. They're going to hire someone who already knows the languages and has projects to show for it, the nicer employers like to hire those people and tell me that I'm smart and have "potential".) Take it to figure out if you like programming and computer science and what not, but unless you're going well beyond those courses on your own time or know the right people, you won't be bringing home paychecks as a programmer.

I think you missed Sac's point. It isn't about feeding a million people versus two million people per day, it's that masturbating about the idea of handing out soup feeds no one. (unless it works and is implemented)

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As for me, I work for both my future and the good of anyone that has to interact with me. I want to live a decent life and support a family while working a job where I'm less than miserable. There is personal growth involved in taking on responsibility, but as I get older, I'm looking to get involved with bigger things than myself. The world needs adults who give a shit about the people around them and the future.

I studied mathematics and I am no longer teaching, so I'm not really employed in the field. My current job does at least make good use of attention to detail and analytical skills. I'm not particularily miserable, but I would like to do something more involved with science, engineering, IT, or even gaming, but that isn't quite happening yet because the people who actually specialized in those things tend to get the jobs before I do. (pro-tip: Those in school, major in something practical and/or do internships and/or research and/or big projects.)

Sometimes I think about teaching myself a ton of programming or working my way into game design. There was something about making maps and working on SEN that satisfied an urge to create, to build, and to improve things. Teaching and working with the community here appealed to a nurturing side of me. Right now, though, what I'm going to be doing in five years probably has more to do with who would want to hire me and train me.

I agree with you. However, I believe that what causes the lack of interest and time is mostly structural, and that by developing a proper understanding of the current way society works, it would be possible to reshape its structure so that it would encourage more the people to strive toward this interest, while providing them with more time.
Which brings me to:
Once again, as I have mentioned, you require a comprehension and an analysis of what is happening in order to improve the situation. After that, nothing prevents one from implementing its solution.
Thinking precedes action, and does not prevent it.
Endlessly masturbating about the idea, however, would indeed lead to that. But I don't see how Philosophy categorically always ends up being that way.

You have a comprehension of the situation, otherwise you wouldn't know that the situation needs improvement. And nothing you learn in a Philosophy course will ever help anyone else, let alone improve their lives and fill their stomachs.

The world is full of people that are full of shit, never accomplishing anything for anyone else, but acting like they're somehow morally superior because "they will someday". Lol.

What actually gets things done is people who go out and do said things. The difference between the guy scooping out food in the soup kitchen and the guy who organized the shelter to begin with are how ambitious and dedicated they are. Not how long they sat on their hands beforehand.

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Dec 15 2013, 4:30 pm by Roy. Reason: Cleaning up topic

Middle of second year in uni for computer science. Doing a bit of private tutoring (cough) to raise minor cash. Currently trying to figure out how to put my excessive video game playing to work making money (or something). Probably streaming, but I don't know if I have the technical requirements fulfilled.

3rd Madoka movie was so cash ballin btw. If you were thinking of watching it/getting into Madoka series, the movies are p sick (have yet to watch 2nd but I'm sure it's good too).

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 15 2013, 4:31 pm by Roy. Reason: Cleaning up topic

Haha thanks Although half of my feed would be about SC1 mapping lol.

And yeah, Madoka: Rebellion was amazing. Homura went right from not being on my MAL Top 10 Characters list to being #4. It was pretty impressive.

Did you get an autograph board? I got Kyoko and Sayaka, but luckily found someone who was willing to trade me her Homura for it So I managed to get that one.

I did not. ;w; I originally meant to go to the theaters very early to secure one, but I forgot that they were handing them out on the day of the showing, so I decided I would stay at home to finish up some homework before going. My life is woe - I would have been satisfied with ANY of the characters (I love them all). (EDIT: I want to cry.)

Homura's feelings are too relatable, I was borderline physically reacting (twitching) while I was watching lol. Sometimes, when one is in deep despair, one wishes that "will to power" had a more literal meaning and that the whole universe would be swallowed up in despair.

So dark. Such despair. Much tragedy. Wow.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Dec 15 2013, 4:31 pm by Roy. Reason: Cleaning up topic

Only two pointless joke posts in this thread?
What's happened, SEN?

I play videogames because it is the only source of vague entertainment I have found, for lack of social contact, which is sufficiently cost-effective, available in arbitrary quantity, and without displeasing side effects. High absent-mindedness and poor mental stamina make the reading of, respectively, fantasy and information-rich material costly.

I draw and program because I have (and have had for as long as I can remember) strong creative urges, and most other outlets I've discovered suffer varying disqualifications (generally of costing money or providing insufficient instant gratification; in the latter case, drawing likely only has an advantage because I've already devoted significant time and effort into it due to convenience and obviousness). Secondarily, I hope for these activities to provide others entertainment. Tertiarily, I hope for entertaining others to enhance my social situation.
The question of possessing artistic skill is an entirely different one from creative urges.

I work at a pie factory because they contacted me on the basis of my experience working for Hostess Brands, before my own efforts at acquiring a job had succeeded, and I am too lazy to go to the trouble of improving my situation beyond slowly accruing money with which to enhance my physical comfort and support my laziness.

My theater was awesome and handed them out when we were leaving Although I'd have gotten one either way, I showed up early enough, but it was much better the way they did it. After everyone got their board, everyone was standing around talking about the movie and trading them and stuff, it was pretty great.

Kind of like the movie itself I thought it had a happy ending, personally. She's my favorite character in the series, so it was all good.

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Dec 15 2013, 4:32 pm by Roy. Reason: Cleaning up topic

I play games. Develop the occasional one on one romatic relationship. That's it. I'm a lazy fuck. Well old enough to get kicked out of the house. Pretty much just leeching onto my mother's hospitality. I'd love to learn to program or make 3D models or something, but I just have little to no motivation to do anything productive. Dropped out of high school (which I slept through ~80% of). I don't care enough to do anything about it. I'm probably depressed, I doubt seeing anyone would help (though I'm sure most people that are depressed think that way). I assume those things only work when you truly want to be helped. Not sure I can say I do.

I don't know what I want out of life. I guess I just want to have fun playing games for all eternity, but that'll certainly end soon. Either my parent(s) will force me to do something with myself, or just kick me out and I'll probably die somewhere. I don't know how being homeless works. Also explains where I see myself in X years.

*prepares for everyone here (or at least Kame) to hate me*

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 21 2013, 5:47 pm by Alzarath. Reason: Added stuffs

I don't hate anyone.