Comment by marktangotango | Hacker News Reader

Comment by marktangotango | Hacker News Reader

> the war I wage every night when I get a second rush of energy from mind-altering books

Two things I've experienced with this. First is that there seems to be a half-life on this activity. One day one may ask themselves, what tangible benefit have I gained from all these germs of wisdom and information I've gleaned over the years? Second is that invariably, outside of "hard" disciplines, there's nearly always a counter argument or viewpoint that can be equally compelling.

So for myself, the way two decades of intellectual curiosity manifests is the conversations I have with my kids. They generally think I'm a bore, but sometimes I relate something that seems to give them a spark.

To your first point: the sheer pleasure of knowing seems to be the benefit. I feel that it would be difficult to find an answer that suffices more than that does.

To the point about there always being a counterpoint to anything—I’ve come to use that as a justification for how nothing we do, believe, or want is objectively necessary, and what truly matters more is whether we can all get each other to agree on a certain goal to then objectively judge our actions against. It seems to me that that agreement on goal or purpose for our actions is at the core of why people disagree on pretty much any issue.

I think part of it is building understanding of aspects of art/science/history/literature that you find interesting. If you have, say, a deep understanding of the events and context of WWII (a very ambitious goal), it might not have a big outward effect on your life, but it’s very satisfying and opens the door to more fulfilling ways to engage with the subject —- in this case, say, building a collection, or going to a war museum, or meeting other people who are into this.

I’m not saying that existentially it counts for anything but there are usually rewards to learning deeply about any worthwhile subject.

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