Hi Tom,
Hmmm, really interesting points and background you have. It's cool that you enjoyed and gravitated towards the abstract stuff rather than the practical (I was quite the opposite for my B Sc. in Math).
I'm curious, why do you think that is? Do you enjoy covering new ground, the art of problem solving, etc.?
Another question I would ask yourself is how important is money to you? Do you have any financial goals? It sounds like you could have the skill set for a high-paying programming job. Maybe a type of math related job on the trading floor where you are forced to innovate different ways of modelling things, working tightly with a team?
Another random idea I'd throw out is the idea of a sinecure: think Einstein at the patent post office. Maybe you are content making a moderate sum of money doing something with concrete deadlines and tasks where you can easily check boxes, but also want to stimulate your brain with a good team that pushes each other in their own respect.
I work on a lot of personal projects outside of my job-job, and I have found Discord is a great way of making those connections.
I hope these prompts were helpful; happy to follow up for more ideation. :)
Ahhh, my mistake! 😅 Both words sound similar to me for some reason haha.
But now that I think about it, I bet one could get some good thinking done with a non-intellectually
stimulating job. Perhaps a level of physical activeness helps (eg. bar bouncing, waiting tables, barista)
What do you think?