Interesting problems

What is the problem you are actively working on right now? may be a good conversation starter in some settings.

Created: Dec 09, 2019 by Pradeep Gowda Updated: Nov 04, 2023 Tagged: ideas

Efficient filter for interesting conversations: “What is the problem you are actively working on right now?” pretty obvious, in retrospect. People with ‘depth’ have tonnes of problems in the queue. Not-deep folks (nothing wrong with that) say some version of “nothing much” — via @ravi_mohan

An acquaintance “T” working in the area of Math/ML used to always begin conversations with “working on any interesting problems?”. People usually do not ask that. They might ask you something like — “what did you read”, “did you see ___”, “did you hear about /event?”. I never had a good answer for him. This is something to ponder about. Do you have an interesting problem you are mulling about at — work, working with your kids, hobbies, products, mathematics, puzzles, “the human condition.

Its a good call for action, and a good filter for engaging with people too.