Ask HN: What occupation or field would you take if money wasn't a concern?

25 points by HenryKissinger ↗ HN
*Asuming that you would take an occupation or a field.

59 comments

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researcher

painter, artist

librarian

zoo keeper

national park ranger

I like what I do today, but I can tell you there are a few other things that I considered pursuing over the years, and fall into the bucket of other things I could see myself doing.

1. Private Detective

2. Strength & Conditioning Coach

3. Explorer / Adventurer

4. Firefighter

Running an intricate, possibly multi-part escape room. I love them but lament that once you go through one it has little replay value. Engineering a real world game framework that allows for both modularity in changing the puzzle and emergent game solutions would be a large part of what I’d strive for.
There is a human maze located in Panama City, FL that is built to be modular. They change the layout once every three months or so. Although I'm sure a modular escape room would be much more difficult to construct!
- Musician

- Technical Writer

1. Sci-fi concept artist

2. Sci-fi writer

Cooking, Gardening and anything that involves birds.
Musician, Mattress tester, Twitter influencer
Inefficient market seeker --> disgruntled market grinder --> paradigm shifting market disruptor
I'd be a Chauffeur. Drive rich folk about, learn how they live their lives, would be easy and fascinating.
I think you would be surprised to learn that most would not even want to talk to you, they just want you to shutup and drive so they can fiddle with their phones in peace. Besides, even if they were open I can't see how the novelty doesn't wear off really quick, you'd end up hearing the same themes over and over again.
I assume that would get boring fairly quickly. And all the negative aspects of listening to those sort of people would get more and more annoying as well.
I suspect you've not known many rich people. Most that I've encountered are spectacularly dull, isolated, and self-centered.

Also, if they've hired a chauffeur, it's because they've decided that the time they'd otherwise spend driving is better spent doing something else... And that something is almost certainly not talking to "the help". Unfortunately.

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Gardener Game developer Musician (It changes by the day, sometimes by the hour. Were I not limited by money, I'd definitely be limited by time)
> Were I not limited by money, I'd definitely be limited by time

We’re all limited by time, we don’t have all the time in the world. I often get depressed/scared by this simple realization. I don’t have the time required to read all the books/comics I want, see the films/series/documentaries I’d like to see, hear all the music or play the games I like and so on...

Returning on topic, I’d love to be a photographer traveling around the world :-)

Pilot. It is a very poor way to make money, but I love airplanes. If i didn't need the money I'd be a pilot.
Upfront costs aside, you can make a living as a pilot. There is a shortage of pilots!
Make a living != Live the life I like

For me it works out that writing software and paying to own and fly a plane leaves me with more spending money than flying for a living

A primary/secondary school teacher.
No one here wants to be a programmer?
I do.

I’d likely work on open source or stuff for charities but otherwise not much would change.

I assume that programming would play a decent part in whatever roles most people pursued. It would for me. Although the main role might not be a Software Developer. Doesn't mean software can't/won't get made!
I'd do precisely what I'm doing now, which is a mix of open source and contract work.

I can't really think of a time beyond my first job in which money was anything other than an academic point scoring exercise. It didn't feel that way at the time, but to be honest, if you just work and don't spend it all, a few years later you're basically immune to money issues.

I don't think that it makes sense to do a job primarily for the money. I think it leads to a boring life. Then again, I don't want to live in London/NY/whatever, so that's just like, my opinion, man.

Your contract work would likely be different though, right? Why do work for some marketing company when you could do work for a local nonprofit.
I've never worked for a marketing company and I hope never to! I probably work a lot less than I theoretically could as a result.

Re nonprofit work - actually I should probably push harder on that. I reckon I could do some work on the side for free or at a reduced rate, but identifying local businesses that need that help is difficult (I'm not the kind of person to just rock up and be like, 'hey, want some computer stuff guys?') :P

Which brings me to a good point, actually. I personally think that - in the social circles I'm in anyway - the barrier for most people to doing stuff like all of the potential job ideas people have posted here - is not money, but will.

Because it's actually really hard. I have enough savings to not really need to think about immediate profit. But formulating a plan, getting up every morning, working towards it, having enough fun that you don't burn out, eating well, doing all of that stuff at the same time is actually _really difficult_. The structure of a stable career, as stifling and frustrating as it can be, is really helpful to a lot of people.

Grasslands restoration researcher
Physical therapist. I get to help people recover their dignity while learning how I can maintain my own self sufficiency as I get older
Same here. And actually you can make really nice money with it (maybe not top level engineer/manager, but certainly enough for a decent living), so it's not even entirely a matter of income. ;)
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I'm trained as a visual artist. I'd love to be doing that but it's not realistic for everyone.
Lion tamer. I already have the hat.
Outdoor guide - I've spent most of my adult life exploring the Rocky Mountains, and would love to show them to people for a living.
Same. Teaching curious people respect and ethics for the outdoors, and passing on the things that make me feel most “alive” would be amazing.