One of the things I miss most about the old world was that I still felt like I had a reason to be learning new things about science and engineering. When I was an undergrad I would dream up these wacky learning projects like trying to learn both Chinese and operating systems at once, by reading a Chinese translation of a book that did a line by line breakdown of an early linux kernel. I of course didn't complete most of these projects, but I felt energized enough to attempt them, and to engage in real ways with ideas and background knowledge about software design. I felt like if I just worked hard enough I could at least become a really good engineer, and take pride in my craft even if it didn't lead to money or status.

LLMs can probably teach me about linear algebra more effectively than whatever textbook I was reading in 2020, but all I can think now is, what is even the point? I'll probably never even get to use it.