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<p>No disagreement - just like there are many boring software development jobs. However, the average comp sci graduate - in my view and experience - has a bit better chance of doing something exciting and interesting than the average accountant or actuary. It’s a numbers game. </p>
<p>It also has to do with how one sees ‘work’. We super-creative types really don’t care if our work will be used by millions and will be successful. We are more into it for the fame and recognition of our peers (the obscure type). I’ve been showing stuff at CES since 2001, and never been there myself to share the excitement (I have to stay at the lab to fix code :)). So, for us, the idea is more important than the execution. If my idea is 90% right, I’m golden. A 90% pilot, accountant, or ER doctor would be a tragedy. It’s not simply a matter of attention to detail. It’s whether the idea is more important than the customer. For what I do, it is. Across the hallway where they do production work, it’s not. </p>
<p>A lot of careers have a calling. Medicine is one. I spent a few months writing software for medical research in Elbonia and could not do this for a living. Cardiology era 1980 there was pretty sad - everyone coming was pretty much a walking goner. Now things are different, but I simply could not see myself doing it. The empathy thing and all that…</p>