I am an academic mathematician, on winter break. I did some research this morning. Why? No wishy-washy reasons here, the reason is as you said: I like it. I will do more today.
I do not believe that my work comes at someone else's expense. My position does -- there are only so many slots for tenured professors -- but not my actual work.
Research is not a zero-sum game. There will always be open problems to investigate.
Exactly. I used to be a mathematician and while I am no longer one, I can completely empathize with wanting to work on math as much as possible. To me, it's exactly the same as why some people want to run marathons, because it's exciting and immensely rewarding, and makes me feel alive.
I graduated with a PhD in math, now working in software.
I went to two math conferences this year, and plan to work on an unfinished paper next year - and hopefully start something new. The only thing stopping me is the lack of time away from the day job (and attention span that it allots). Switching between a software job and mathematics turns out to be hard.
So on that note: why did you use to be a mathematician? What would it take to continue research for fun in any amount?
I do not believe that my work comes at someone else's expense. My position does -- there are only so many slots for tenured professors -- but not my actual work.
Research is not a zero-sum game. There will always be open problems to investigate.