A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2023-07-21/caltech-nobel-laureate-rudy-marcus-turns-100-and-gets-back-to-work

by pseudolus • 3 years ago

480 245 3 years ago

spaceman_20204• 3 years ago

I’ve been fortunate enough to know a few older people who really loved their work and were excellent at it. All of them had one thing in common: they didn’t want to retire.

Meanwhile all of my peer group is obsessed with FIRE and dream of retiring early. All of us are also involved in pretty meaningless work that has no measurable impact on the world (five lines of code to a million line codebase is hardly world changing).

TheAceOfHearts• 3 years ago

Is it such a bad thing to dream of a life which values things outside of a workplace? To spend time with friends and family. The older generations cling to positions of power and refuse to make room for the newer generations, so it is upon them to find meaning and purpose through other avenues.

Retiring seems important for allowing younger generations to take their place. But if all you have is your work and you've lived for nothing more then I guess it makes sense to cling onto it until the end.

spaceman_20204• 3 years ago

Its not a value judgement on my peer group for wanting out of the workplace.

Its more of a value judgement on the meaningless of so much of modern work.

All the people I mentioned above are involved in work that’s probably more gratifying than making giant corporations richer. One is a playwright, one is a professor, one is a top pulmonologist in the country.

I don’t know what their day to day entails, but I can’t imagine it being as mind numbing as what I do.

RangerScience3• 3 years ago

There’s a big difference between having a purpose in your life, something you love doing, that happens to be done at a work place; and being an employee.

IMHO it is absolutely a good thing to dream of a life which values things outside of employment.

We just happen to use the same word - “work” - for both kinds of situations.

moonchrome• 3 years ago

Is it such a bad thing to dream of a life which values things outside of a workplace? To spend time with friends and family.

Friends and family are great reprieve between working hours and obligations. I wouldn't want that to be the only thing going on. Stay at home moms and retired people around me are not the image of fulfilment.

The few retired people I've met that were happy and engaging are the kind that didn't stop working past retirement.

themitigating• 3 years ago

If someone talks about how they love to work and don't want to retire it's not a judgement on any other choices.

lisper• 3 years ago

It's not work that sucks. It's having to work that sucks.

MichaelZuo5• 3 years ago

Bingo. People pay thousands of dollars for the mere option of buying or selling 100 shares of a stock a few years in the future at roughly the price it is now.

I imagine there would be folks willing to pay a lot more for their future options, if such an options market existed.

rufus_foreman• 3 years ago

I think having choices is better than not having choices.

skepticATX• 3 years ago

Perhaps it is more about the structure of the corporate workplace and less about how meaningful the work is?

I love writing code, I don't think I'll ever fully quit, but I also really want to retire early.

The problem is that corporate America is riddled with politics and inefficiencies, and offers little to no long term security for all but the most senior employees.

From what I've seen the people who never retire are in academia, medicine, own a business, or are just so accomplished that they effectively have corporate tenure.

gravypod• 3 years ago

Meanwhile all of my peer group is obsessed with FIRE and dream of retiring early.

I'm a SWE and I would love to FIRE one day but the goal of my retirement is very different from others. I want to buy some land with a house and a workshop, learn machining, chemistry, electrical engineering, etc and either contract for startups or start my own projects. Also, I'd like to bring some polish to the free software stack by rebuilding some foundational pieces of technology.

It is very hard to have the energy to do a full day of work, come home, and do a full night of work. Unfortunately, the market is not set up in a way where creative people (who can transform various verticals) can get funded to do good work.

egwor• 3 years ago

I’ve been asking myself why I’m not already doing this now. Why not spend a bit of time on reading about it now?

vasco7• 3 years ago

Almost every person I know has the same goal about learning all these new hobbies. What happens instead is people do what they are passionate about and if you never learning X all your life you probably won't start at 65.

armchairhacker• 3 years ago

I like some form of “work” but I like to work on my own terms. The more money I have up to a certain amount, the less I have to worry about taking a job I don’t want.

I’m currently in academia, so I don’t make that much money but fortunately do make enough. And I get to work on stuff which isn’t quite what I’d like, but close enough; and the job isn’t very demanding and I have free time, so I can also do the kind of work that I want. I do want more stability though, better income means I can save money and academia is opaque and uncertain

losteric• 3 years ago

The older folks typically also benefited from getting into housing when it was less scarce, riding one or more waves of progress, at a time where healthcare ROI was much higher.

My generation faces a different economic situation. I know people in academia that love what they do and dreamed of living a life like Rudy's. In practice, they're stuck - huge debts, dismally low post-grad wages, stuck renting, just hoping for a stable position (luck over merit). K-12 teachers, lifetime musicians, social services, even nurses in similar positions.

Is meaning worth that kind of struggle?

Not for me. I want to bake as a craft in an owned place of business, then go home to sleep in a bedroom I own. Big Tech is the means to that end. Wake up, Clock in, autopilot, clock out, live. Within ethical reason, I will take any boring meaningless job if it pays well enough.

Locals complain about Big Tech killing the quirky unique culture my city used to have... and I agree! But what was the alternative? Pursuing the baking craft on debt and leases, paycheck to paycheck, barely treading water without any savings? That sounds like living a dream, getting sucked dry by parasites. There are public policies that could bring back the vibrancy, but no one wants density or lower property values (a prerequisite for housing the people that seed a vibrant culture)...

lambdasquirrel2• 3 years ago

All the folks in my peer group who followed their left-leaning parents mantra of doing something interesting, something that you love, got absolutely screwed. As much as I hate big tech, I cannot blame anyone for pursuing it.

lostlogin2• 3 years ago

Your housing comment is key - the grind of paying for rent or a mortgage with two incomes really stifles and ability people have to try something.

foobiekr• 3 years ago

Not everything is about housing, in particular someone choosing to work to 100+ doesn't really have anything to do with housing.

spaceman_20204• 3 years ago

As someone who gave up the academia dream for Big Tech, I can relate…

atrettel• 3 years ago

I would think that the "obsession" your peer group has with retiring early comes more from the realization that they can retire early (they have the ability to if they want) more than anything else. Your observations of your peer group may have some selection bias present. Cast a wider net and you may come to the opposite conclusion.

I agree that many people do not find much meaning in their work, but most people also do not make as much money as software engineers do. Most people cannot fathom retiring early. It simply is impossible. A lot of software engineers are going to realize that, hey, if I save up and invest money aggressively for roughly 10 to 15 years, I will have enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life without having to do work that I do not like. However, most professions do not make nearly enough money to achieve the goal of retiring early, so they really have no reason to discuss or even ponder early retirement. It's never gonna come up.

varjag• 3 years ago

Aye, this whole concept is a zero sum game hedging on you earning substantially more than median. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to live off your saved amount as the services rendered by other people would price you out. The returns on investments would have been very modest too with people extracting more value for their work.

spaceman_20204• 3 years ago

True, but the people I’m talking about are at the top of their fields and can afford to retire anytime.

You find this pretty much everywhere with high accomplished people - they don’t want to quit, even when they can afford to. Skilled doctors who keep working, professors who keep teaching, artists who never stop creating - well into their 70s and 80s.

JSavageOne4• 3 years ago

I think it's less about ability to retire early, more about realization that being forced to sell one's life and freedom to an employer is not only miserable, but completely unnecessary for society to function (eg. with a UBI society would carry on just fine, and likely accelerate automation).

The older generation didn't grow up with technology so perhaps it's not as obvious to them.

gumby• 3 years ago

I retired at 30 and it didn't stick. The real difference is that I only think about working on things I am interested in working on.

r3trohack3r• 3 years ago

Retirement !== never working.

Personally, I’m pursuing FIRE for the freedom to choose my work regardless of how much (or even if) it pays. Decoupling my work from market incentives.

I don’t consider retirement to be sitting around doing nothing. It’s waking up and choosing my own path. It’s freedom.

markus_zhang• 3 years ago

Most people don't contribute much to the real progress of human societies so it makes sense to FIRE so that they can at least recollect themselves and regain some passion for whatever.

I for one is at my 40s but I definitely feel older than the 100yr old in the article. I lost all of my passions of the tech in the previous 2 years and just want out when I have the $$$.

Aperocky• 3 years ago

meaningless work that has no measurable impact on the world

If it generated a stable income for you and the company then it has a measurable impact on the world.

The world consists of people, people with higher income contribute to higher prosperity and in turn more resources for what looks like world impact works.

JSavageOne4• 3 years ago

FIRE is about financial independence, aka freedom to work on whatever you want. It'd be nonsensical not to strive for financial independence.

I'm not FIRE but took most of the last year to work on projects that I enjoy. There's absolutely no comparison to working for oneself vs. working for a boss for a paycheck. The former has me loving life and my work, the latter will have my questioning my career choice and the system we live in.

Probably in 10 years we'll have something resembling a UBI in most major western countries, so finally everyone will have the freedom to work on what they enjoy instead of selling their soul for a paycheck.

robotnikman• 3 years ago

I feel like one of the secrets to living longer is to have a reason to get up every day, a purpose to fulfill in life. And this guy certainly has one.

paulcole• 3 years ago

I mean it’s not that interesting to write about the 100 year olds who have no purpose and just putter around. Might be skewing your conclusions a bit.

lordnacho• 3 years ago

Someone mentioned a paper a while ago examining whether retirement was actually what caused death, rather than retirement being caused by ill health. Perhaps someone here can link it.

anyfactor• 3 years ago

a purpose to fulfill in life

I add like to sense of stability there as well. If there is the nature unpredictability involved, waking up everyday is quite a challenge. Unless you consider unpredictability into your framework, getting paid to do things you love doing can be quite difficult. The person has achieved the highest accomplishment in his field, he has tenure and thus from the outside perspective he is living a much more stable and routine life.

Barrin92• 3 years ago

one thing i remember pretty vividly about my grandfather is that he started to age in front of my eyes after he retired. It's ironic that people are almost encouraged to wind down at a point when they need an active life the most to fend off senescence.

yMEyUyNE12• 3 years ago

The Japanese have a word for it, Ikigai.

MagicMoonlight• 3 years ago

Not necessarily. I have grandparents who just sat there for 40 years after retirement not doing anything.

valgor• 3 years ago

Look up Blue Zone groups. Researchers study groups of people that live the longest and how they live. Of course diet and exercise is a big component, but a reason to live is another. There are other interesting factors as well.

mrtksn6• 3 years ago

Wow, such a winner: Long, healthy life full of accomplishments within a community where he is liked and he likes them back.

I wonder what people like Peter Thiel have to say about it, would he consider Rudy Marcus a "winner", maybe bigger one than himself? I recall something about Thiel looking down on the life choices and motivations of scientists.

dctoedt2• 3 years ago

Peter Tail

Friendly amendment: You mean Peter Thiel, presumably?

mrtksn6• 3 years ago

Right, Autocorrect keeps correcting it wrongly. It's the SV billionaire from the PayPal mafia.

Kamq3• 3 years ago

I wonder what people like Peter Thiel have to say about it

The people I know who look down on modern academics, tend to dislike a set of changes that started happening in the mid-late sixties and ramped up through at least the 2010s.

I'm not sure that's applicable to someone who got their PhD in 1946.

mrtksn6• 3 years ago

I am a bit too lazy to go back into Thiel talks and find the relevant quotes, however, if I recall correctly He talks about Einstein and similar physicists on how they were not compensated correctly and not being billionaires despite their huge contributions to the society and how they made wrong life choices.

JumpinJack_Cash2• 3 years ago

> I wonder what people like Peter Thiel have to say about it

Who gives a fuck? He's just a guy, much like this guy is just a guy.

Don't waste space and give me your take as opposed to mentioning other people, because they are not here and they cannot debate, while you are and can.

mrtksn6• 3 years ago

Sure, here is for you can fill for your demands: https://form.jotform.com/232027549131046

julianeon• 3 years ago

Realistically, Peter Thiel would praise the guy. He's talked before about our current level of stagnation and how the US needs to prioritize real advances in technology, especially in fundamental areas like physics. A Caltech Nobel Prize Winner who won his award for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions would naturally help advance that agenda.

alpineidyll3• 3 years ago

If today's scientific community were as functional as Rudy Marcus' we'd still be progressing. The key moment of his career was prediction of an inverted trend in an unexplored experimental regime. In today's academia, he would have hopped to a startup rather than struggle for tenure with foreign ideas that don't support anyone else's old stack of fluffy papers.

JumpinJack_Cash2• 3 years ago

Progress is brought forward by people who are 'out there' and are 'out there' enough to let the whole world to know that they are.

But you cannot confine it to science and academia, rather it's the general background 'out there-ness' of the whole planet which then finds its way in various sectors.

In other words you don't get the Einsteins without the Hitlers and you don't get the Richard Feynmans without the Charlie Mansons

mgaunard4• 3 years ago

How is this legal?

csomar2• 3 years ago

So we should make it illegal to work now?

mgaunard4• 3 years ago

Well it's unlikely he's as productive as he was in his prime.

Frummy2• 3 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSt1m4NFUl8

mgaunard4• 3 years ago

Arthritis during surgery, nice.

toast0• 3 years ago

Why would it be illegal? It clearly is something he wants to do, and something his employer wants him to do.

In the US, various forms of age discrimination against people over 40 have become illegal over the years, including mandatory retirement. So the law is moving the other way.

mgaunard4• 3 years ago

He's taking up a tenure spot that's not going to someone younger.

Normally he should lose it and become professor emeritus instead.

Alex39172• 3 years ago

Apropos of Oppenheimer coming out, the guy who invented the H-bomb currently works as a covid researcher. (Or at least an amateur one, not sure what he’s actually doing.)

zeroonetwothree• 3 years ago

Not sure who you are referring to since Teller and Ulam both died a while ago.

Alex39172• 3 years ago

Dick Garwin: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/science/who-built-the-h-b...

https://rlg.fas.org/2020.htm

dctoedt2• 3 years ago

Wikipedia: "[Dick] Garwin received his bachelor's degree from the Case Institute of Technology in 1947, and two years later his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago under the supervision of Enrico Fermi at the age of 21."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garwin

pdonis• 3 years ago

"Invented" is an overstatement. He authored the first detailed H-bomb design, but he didn't invent the design concept that it embodied: Teller and Ulam did. Teller instructed Garwin to produce a detailed bomb design based on the Teller-Ulam concept.

ArcMex• 3 years ago

I particularly enjoyed this quote

“The main thing is finding something that you enjoy doing, that preferably doesn’t harm others, and that tests whatever aptitude one has, that tests one’s ingenuity,”

xyzwave• 3 years ago

Followed by

“It’s almost like a kind of a game. You against nature.”

samyok• 3 years ago

https://archive.ph/aJBCr

zw1234562• 3 years ago

Hi there, old person here. Tomorrow is my 65th birthday. I had vowed to myself that I would completely and totally retire, Finally, at 65. But then, this "thing" cropped up and the day after tomorrow, I am pitching my 3rd startup to investors. I wonder, am I crazy. But I feel passion for this project. So, I am throwing myself into the fray again, there is no logical reason to do so. So, Rudy, I understand.

tough• 3 years ago

hey, not so old but feeling old to not have done much yet, thanks for reminding me that I can still be kicking 35 years from now.

I'd say if you have the fire go for it fren

iamflimflam1• 3 years ago

If you’ve still got the energy, why not? I think the most important thing is are you enjoying it? Does it feel fulfilling?

There’s a lot of pressure to conform to what’s expected of you and if you can ignore that you’ll probably be much happier than most people.

paulryanrogers7• 3 years ago

Because arguably it reduces demand for the next generation to do their thing. And if too many do it then it also becomes a necessity for more in the same age cohort to afford housing and transportation.

jacquesm10• 3 years ago

Tomorrow is my 65th birthday.

Congrats!

the day after tomorrow, I am pitching my 3rd startup to investors.

I'm still pretty active (58) but there is no way I'm going to do another run, I'm happy tinkering with stuff, spending time with kids and working on average 3 to 4 months per year. I always saw money as a means to an end, just another tool in the toolbox. I don't need more of it so that part of the drive is gone and I'd much rather spend a day playing piano or fixing something than that I'd want to be worried about metrics, investors, customer acquisition, payroll and the bi-annual whack over the head from the fourth dimension that throws all your carefully laid plans into disarray.

But I do very much wish for you to succeed at whatever endeavor you've got lined up and I'm curious to hear about it. Much, much good luck with your plans.

ChuckMcM5• 3 years ago

This situation/attitude is exactly the thing that great people end up in. As I've mentioned previously I have known a lot of people that developed enough wealth over time to "retire."[1] And by retire I mean choose to work on what they wanted to work on, and not work if they didn't want to. I once explained as "being a consultant with infinite days of paid vacation." Some folks like Jacques and the GP author are "old" (as in > 50 yrs old, (me too)), some I know are "young" in that they are under 40.

In very general terms I see three "types" as most common, the first type are what I think of as "score keepers" who equate bank balances with their "score" in life and a bigger score than their peers mean they "win" life. This is not a point of view that I really understand, but I generally think that is because in my younger years I lived in Las Vegas and knew other kids whose parents were professional gamblers. Their life was really random in terms of how much money was available that year/month/week/day. Money came and went based most on luck, and less on skill. As a result these folks understood money wasn't the definition of how "good" they were, just how lucky. That is how I translated equity earnings from stock options / grants. If you happened to get lucky then you got some wealth, if not well it didn't change the quality of your work or your abilities.

I see this a lot in the second type of person which is they are happy to not have to worry about money, but they don't "need" to generate any more. So they follow their passions which can be very different. One friend of mine became a patent attorney because they really liked the law and how that system worked.

The third type is the person that "fails" at retirement (I put it in quotes because I don't think of it as failing, just a different path) and they miss the technical/intellectual challenge and the camaraderie of being in a group working on tough problems. If you get to be senior enough you come to realize that you can get more done as a group of blended skills than you can as individuals. Recreating that in a non-company way is hard.[2] As a result people often "go back to work". My favorite example of this is Guido Van-Rossum, who "retired", got bored, and then went to work for Microsoft.

Tenured professorships are excellent for this third type as well. There isn't an industrial equivalent (there used to be, tech companies would have the title of "Fellow" but the grind of MBAs on margin over innovation has pretty much killed those in most places).

[1] Not a flex, I just happened to be part of a number of companies that were generous with stock options and grew into larger companies. These are not founders, they are regular employees whose stock options ended up being worth enough that they could diversify them into something they could live off of.

[2] I proposed a member-benefit type company arrangement that would address this need but have so far not pushed the idea into existence.

jdkoeck6• 3 years ago

Why do you assume the poster above you is in it for the money?

rkhacker2• 3 years ago

I sincerely think that the present corporate culture can suck the air out of anyone's life and force to seek contentment elsewhere very soon. Doing a research work and solve problems, where one does not have to seek approval (easier when you NL next to your name), on a daily basis can keep one engaged and energized.

zw1234562• 3 years ago

I am sort of blown away by the response to my post. I feel like I need to respond. But the posts from so many people are so amazing. I have "retired" a couple of times, but I keep coming back because, this is fun.

The thing I want to do, it has to do with a new technology that would revolutionize LEOS technology, at least, that's what I think. And, I have some models that support that. Who cares? Millions of people who can't afford a decent internet connection, or one at all. If I say more, I could spoil it.

But what if we could do both. Turn a small reasonable profit and provide connectivity, well, everywhere. And decently. That's my dream. It's OK to laugh. I do too. But heck. What else am I supposed to do. Why not take a shot with a kooky idea. So here I go, fingers crossed and all that.

DocSavage2• 3 years ago

65 is the new 45 :) Sounds like there's a perfectly logical reason to do the 3rd startup: you're passionate about it. Best of luck!

malux85• 3 years ago

Self actualizataion is at the top of maslow's hierarchy of needs ... go for it and be your best self! All the best!

fakedang• 3 years ago

On the opposite note, I'm planning to retire the day before my 30th birthday that's coming soon. Not that I'm going to be completely divorced from my firm, but I've delegated most of the day to day work. I'm planning to spend the rest of my time working on some startup ideas, as well as focusing time spending with family and friends (especially some close ones who have less time than me).

I originally planned on getting my MBA from HBS, but due to some of the above circumstances, I decided to delay those plans. They were very understanding though.

leeoniya• 3 years ago

Budd : They say the number one killer of old people is retirement. People got a job to do, they tend to live a little longer so they can do it. I've always figured that warriors and their enemies share the same relationship.

(Kill Bill: Vol 2)

incompatible• 3 years ago

By "retirement", people generally mean no longer working for money. That doesn't mean you can't find things to do.

yMEyUyNE12• 3 years ago

What is your ikigai? Ikigai is a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living.

Said to be a reason for long life.

onecommentman• 3 years ago

The prof sounds like a great guy in a great situation. I assume he has a spacious office on a beautiful campus and in full control of the work he is pursuing. I get the same feeling reading he is working at 100 as when I see a loving group of friends and family egging on a married couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary to get them to kiss. You just want to pinch their cheeks so hard…

Should working to 100 be aspirational, or even thought desirable, for 99.9999% of the population? Of course not.

Is it admirable to continue to work in a job where others (who you may or may not respect) determine the nature of the work and work environment…for one millisecond longer than you must? I don’t think so, not beyond a personal sacrifice to be made if the work is of unique critical importance to the direct well-being of people and the planet. Even then, think really hard about it.

Is it admirable to take up a slot in a fulfilling career area when so many young deserving candidates are knocking at the door? Not to me.

Should you pursue your personal passions in any way that suits you in your golden years, when economic issues are not a priority? Absolutely.

But who is this self-identified “old person” who is only now turning 65? Just a young punk I say. Take your hippity-hoppity music someplace else…

bjelkeman-again2• 3 years ago

I am 59, and this is my seventh new company, third startup with external funding. We just closed a €1M Euro grant for our work and are well placed for the next funding round during the autumn.

You are not crazy, if it is something you are passionate about. I tend to work on things I expect to take a decade or so before I step off. I really don’t feel that being a bit older is a detriment. I work smarter than I did and I get to work on things that really mean something for me, and maybe the world at large.

I say, go for it and best of luck!

computerdork4• 3 years ago

btw, what's (roughly) the new idea you're working on? If you're at liberty to mention it (am just curious:)

teekert2• 3 years ago

I have this theory: Humans have a spectrum for "worrying about things" or "things deemed important", let's call it 0 to 1. Things you don't worry about are 0. During normal life you worry about some things, and stuff surrounding work may even approach 1. Normal, because your family's well-being may depend on it. Then you retire or become unemployed and the 0 to 1 spectrum starts to drop in scope, the spectrum starts to cover a much narrower reality. Soon you worry and get annoyed by your neighbor not taking good care of his lawn or kids skating through the park... I've seen it happen to people retiring, I was once unemployed for 10 months and I felt it happen to me too.

I then thought: Perhaps for me the working life, life filled with intellectual challenges, may never loose its appeal?! I will just have to make sure to make work more fun by getting rid of the boring parts and focus on the the fun parts. Then, at 67, why would I stop if I got to an almost "pure fun" state? Of course what is fun is also determined by what you are good at so I have no idea what that "work" will look like.

Just a thought from a 41 y/o.

influx• 3 years ago

I’ve taken off a year and a half from work and similar to your theory, I have the same amount of stress in my life, I just apply it to non work parts of my life.

I was shocked.

throwaway98797• 3 years ago

i get antsy

after 6 months off i’m exploring new subjects new challenges

the biggest thing is that you have to talk about something

if you aren’t working that something could be family, tv, or hobbies

but you got to talk about something

if you’re world gets too small you have only simple things like tv 2 video games shows to talk about and for me that never felt enough

i like a sprinkle of drama in my life

i too am in my 40s

rkhacker2• 3 years ago

My question to self is - retire to do what?

adventured• 3 years ago

Depending on the context of course - retire from a career to pursue one's passions.

Retire as a software engineer, pursue business ideas. Tinker. Maybe build wood cabinets and chairs.

Picture someone that just spent the last 30 years writing C, C++, Java (whatever) code, and maybe doing various lower level management roles. The age of AI has broken into an open gallup; said person is 55-65 years old, maybe now is a good time to have fun with their capabilities instead. So now they're learning Python instead of punching a 9-5 time clock, messing with LLMs or Stable Diffusion extensions. You get the idea.

We have hit an inflection point the scale of the World Wide Web circa the mid 1990s. There's a lot to do. Vast new territory to explore and it's moving fast. It feels a lot like the mid 1990s did in terms of speed. It feels like "internet time" has returned. It's damn exciting again.

For younger people here that are completely unfamiliar with the phrase "internet time." Vaguely the idea or sense of experience that development online circa the 1990s was moving abnormally fast compared to everything else (this is from 2001, when people still understood the original context of the phrase):

https://www.technologyreview.com/2001/04/01/275725/the-myth-...

sn9• 3 years ago

The things you didn't have time to do when you had to work full time.

You could travel, study a field deeply, read books in their original language, teach or mentor, etc.

You don't have anything you've always wished you could find more time to do properly?

elforce002• 3 years ago

Well, my 88 year-old Grandpa is still working. He has lots of medical issues but we know if he stops working, he'll die.

WalterBright3• 3 years ago

Gardening is a living death. So is traveling around looking at things.

ikrenji• 3 years ago

WalterBright3• 3 years ago

People say they want to travel and garden when they retire. That's not for me.

WalterBright3• 3 years ago

And that's as it should be.

shafiemukhre• 3 years ago

This is the way, I aspire for this. One of my goal in life is to have a long fulfilling healthy life doing the things that I love to do, and hopefully see the 22nd century. written human history has only been for 5,000 years and the progress of engineering and technologies has been exploding for the past 100 years. I wonder how it will be in the 22nd century , it must be unimaginable to us right now. And I hope I will live long enough and have the luxury of a healthy brain to comprehend the beauty of technologies in the 22nd century.

I like the work of Blueprint by Bryan Johnson, though it's not replicable for most and felt a bit too much. For now, my lifestyle include eating clean, weightlifting, cardio, and good sleep. This is it or there's more to it? Appreciate any other resources/readings to pursue a long life

selimthegrim• 3 years ago

I salute Rudy, but I’m not sure how well his graduate students have made out in the last few years.

thenerdhead• 3 years ago

Nobel prize winners show up to teach classes, even if they're 100, because they expect others to aspire to greatness. That's what most would call purpose.

eclectic29• 3 years ago

How does one keep going so long with the same passion, energy and excitement? Is it because of working in academia? Corporate life with its politics has exhausted me and sucked all the passion out of work. My cognitive abilities are declining due to the constant pressure to show (fake) impact and tout my own horn to move up.

adastra223• 3 years ago

You don’t need to do any of that when you’re on top, either as an entrepreneur or head scientist with tenure.

badpun3• 3 years ago

By definiton, there's very few people on top. Way fewer than people attempting to climb there.

therealdrag0• 3 years ago

Every context is different. You can’t measure yourself against someone in a totally different context. I doubt the professor has been fighting the same battles as you. Talking about his love of puzzles and games, I suspect his work is more flow state than yours.

So you can accept your current burn rate or change to a context that burns you out less. Personally I’m in corporate job (senior eng at sp500 company) and I also don’t have the same fights you do. I have a lot of flexibility and zone time and no politics.

JSavageOne4• 3 years ago

A tenured professor pursuing their scientific passion vs. a cog at a for-profit corporation who's mission is to serve shareholders, in an industry that had over 150k layoffs in the last year, where you have no freedom over your work, have to play politics and constantly justify your value and why they shouldn't fire you, you're easily replaceable, and little of your work is particularly meaningful or benefits society.

Not really a mystery why one of these entails passion, energy, and excitement at age 100 while the other doesn't.

declan_roberts• 3 years ago

I love my work and I’m darn good at it, but I definitely want to retire. I hope to teach my grandkids (fingers crossed) how to program and take an active role in homeschooling them (again fingers crossed).

Apart then that I have a very fun and rewarding hobby: growing heirloom apple trees and making my own cider.

Nothing wrong with working, but I’ll be glad when I never have a google calendar reminder again.

litoE• 3 years ago

According to George Burns, "once you get to be 100 you have it made because very few people die past age 100".

ant6n2• 3 years ago

Well, Mr. Burns is indestructible [1]

[1] https://youtu.be/aI0euMFAWF8

lambda• 3 years ago

John Goodenough, one of the inventors of the lithium ion battery, also kept working this long; just passed away a month ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Goodenough

teleforce• 3 years ago

According to the world's oldest practising medical doctor (neurologist) the secret to longevity is not to retire [1].

[1] 100 Year Old Dr. Howard Tucker : "Retirement is the Enemy of Longevity":

https://boomingencore.com/en/article/100-year-old-dr-howard-...

ETH_start5• 3 years ago

I hope the day comes when we look upon the 100th birthday the way we now look at a second birthday.

OJFord• 3 years ago

What might the world population be?

optimalsolver• 3 years ago

Less than the Solar System population.

ETH_start5• 3 years ago

That depends on too many factors to make any kind of educated guess.

uoaei7• 3 years ago

Why?

ETH_start5• 3 years ago

Because life, and being alive, are good.

jb1991• 3 years ago

When I celebrated my 56th birthday I was greeted with similar fanfare which now makes me think everyone thought I was nearing death.

okasaki• 3 years ago

Presumably there's a bunch of teaching assistants in their 60s who have been waiting for him to die/retire for the past 30 years so they could get a crack at the job.

herewulf4• 3 years ago

“The main thing is finding something that you enjoy doing, that preferably doesn’t harm others, and that tests whatever aptitude one has, that tests one’s ingenuity,” he said. “It’s almost like a kind of a game. You against nature.”

You, sir, are winning that game. See you "at work" because in 59 years I also want to be productive still!

futurisold• 3 years ago

What a champ.

WeylandYutani• 3 years ago

My mother recently retired. She was working since 16. Nobody does that anymore most enter the workforce at 25 now.

Anyway she spent 40 years working as a psychiatric nurse and later as a therapist and got tired of the sex abuse stories and all the other horrors our lovely society produces to make people go insane so I don't blame her for retiring. Some people have real jobs.

Gud• 3 years ago

Good for him! I hope to be working until I no longer can't. What's really the killer is the 5 days a week 8 hour grind. My work gives me quite flexible working hours and days - sometimes I work a lot, sometimes it's quite chill. If I was stuck in an office with the same routine year in and out, probably I would hate work.

manjalyc• 3 years ago

Look I get it, he’s passionate and loves what he does. But there’s something about not even taking a day to step back on your 100th birthday that just doesn’t sit right with me.

Although from the sentiment in this thread I guess that makes me the minority. I’m also not a Nobel laureate, to each their own I guess.

mint22• 3 years ago

Perhaps controversial, but after 65-70 continuing working is fine but the type and focus of work should change because if not, the work will be at the expense and harm of the next generation.

After a certain point the focus should no longer be on doing work first hand, but should be working to help, mentor and advise others to provide them a path instead of occupying the top.

Fostering the next generations should be the goal, not occupying career space until the grave.

JSavageOne4• 3 years ago

the work will be at the expense and harm of the next generation.

How is his work since 70 at the expense of the next generation?

People should do what they enjoy. If that's mentoring others, then great. If one doesn't enjoy mentoring others, that's fine too.

mint22• 3 years ago

It’s like comparing US presidents vs the English king/queen. There’s been a heck of a lot more people reach the top in the US. When there is turnover at the top, more people can have a career at it. Otherwise it’s very stagnant at the top. Look at Charles, he had to wait until normal retirement age to advance. If people don’t shift into mentor ship roles and instead cling to the top roles until they die, then it’s pretty obvious the next generations are going to be held back in terms of achievement.

Also while I’m not commenting on his work in particular, but there’s the colloquialism “Science progresses one funeral at a time”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle

A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

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