> Anyone who's ever done the painstaking work
> of trying to learn a foreign language, or master a piece of music, or
> solve a difficult math problem, knows that such endeavors are deeply
> satisfying and that it's precisely the difficulty and effort involved
> that make them so.
Having done some of the things mentioned, I'd have to say this statement is dead wrong. The "difficulty and effort" form no part of the pleasure. It's the matter itself that's fun, for those so inclined as to enjoy it. For those not so inclined, leave it alone.
What the "difficulty and effort" can give you is a kind of moral bragging rights, maybe. I've never been moral enough, myself, to experience that kind of pleasure, so I don't know how keen it is. One has seen other people enjoying it, though, and never found the spectacle very edifying.
--
Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com