During my trip back to NYC, I spent plenty of time with some friends from the financial world. I also went to an obscenely good 5.5 hour dinner with Sandor and several of his coworkers. In light of the various comments that have been made in the Forum about what a shame it is that so many great minds 'waste' their talent on finance, I'll pass on some observations and my thoughts about them.

First, many of these great minds can was poetic about the value they provide to the world by making markets more efficient. They really feel they are doing the world as great a service as they can. I agree with this viewpoint, to a point. My counter, if I were to argue with them, would be to point out that if they weren't there to keep the markets in line, someone else would be. People willing to devote their lives to making money taking advantage of inefficient markets (and thereby making them more efficient) are not in short supply. I don't say this to denigrate these people - I have a lot of respect for them. I just say this to note that while they are performing a service, that they do it is not essential to it getting done well. This may also be true of educating eager students, but I'm happy with my current belief (deluded as it may be) that it is not.

Second, many of these great minds do invest their earnings and brainpower in other activities. David Shaw plows tons of money into cancer research (sure, much of it is in for-profit ventures, but if you really want a problem solved, that's usually a much better way to bet if you can than dumping money on charities). Most of the others I talked to this weekend have an aspiration to change/serve the world outside the financial markets. Some do so by giving a staggering amount of money to various charities (even on a percentage basis). One is having a research center for spinal injuries built, others have donated to our Foundation (and serve on its board), and I'm working on yet another to build a excellent book/programming environment for beginning AoPS programmers. Still another is looking for a good way to approach the global warming issue.

So, what does this have to do with why I like my job? Look at the issues these people are tackling: cancer, global warming, spinal injuries, market efficiency. For the person with demented idea that he/she should help the world, it's hard to choose which of these to focus on. I get to focus on them all despite not working on any of them. As these and other problems get tackled in the next 5-10 generations, I'd bet on AoPSers being at the forefront of solving many of them. I may not be smart enough or dedicated enough to solve any of them, but some of my students will be. That's why I think it's a shame that more of education isn't focused on the intellectual leaders of the next generation. But for me personally, it's not so much a shame as an opportunity. I get to spend all day working on something I love doing, people enjoy, and sates (or tricks, which is good enough) the delusional 'must help the world' gene I'm saddled with.

I confess I occasionally envy the folks who find deep meaning in careers that make them financially comfortable. However, I don't think I'm deluded in thinking I'll join their ranks someday. I've already tackled the hard part: finding work I find meaningful. For people with problem solving skills, finding a financially comfortable career is no chore. Enjoying a career sure is. I've tried both, and I find that turning a career you enjoy into one that is also profitable is a more fun problem to have than turning a career that is profitable into one you enjoy.