[Broken_Hippo]

"There is another world out there"

Yeah, it's called a personal life. Work is basically that thing I do to make the stuff I do in my personal life possible or more comfortable. Or simply not starve. Would I rather have some sort of enjoyment in the work I do? Yeah, but the truth is I can be happy enough doing janitorial work or working retail so long as the work environment and pay is good enough. It is just a job, after all, even when the pay is good or it takes studying. While a few folks might hit the work/job lottery and get something they actually enjoy, I think work is just a job for most folks. It isn't cynical or jaded. It simply is.

Would I work if I won a lottery or if I didn't need money? Nope. Definitely not. I might have a few projects that look kinda like work if lottery-rich, but the truth is I'd just hire folks to do most of it for me. I'd mostly want to travel and make artwork and try out different sorts of hobbies. I'd work on getting weird and eccentric.

[JBlue42]

Well, maybe you'll get lucky and be involved in some work you can do while traveling or doing the other hobbies. Or that pays enough part-time/contract to leave the free time for the other stuff. The whole digital nomad thing has taken off in the past 5-10 years (though it seems most make money selling you e-books on how to be a digital nomad / location independent...).

[thatwebdude]

I like this. You get it. Other people are taking OP too literal with what they said.

I enjoy programming, but I definitely wouldn't be doing it if I didn't need the work.

I think people ream me up about that because they find great anger in someone who is good at programming but didn't want to grow up to be a programmer. Because that conflicts everything they've ever thought in their lives.