I Quit my Job to make Weird Programs

Emergent Garden’s creator leaves a stable software job to pursue YouTube full time, focusing on “weird programs” like Life Engine, cellular automata, AI Minecraft agents, and generative art.

As a full-time YouTuber, the creator confronts the tension between YouTube’s recommendation system—which rewards certain formats and topics—and his desire to explore diverse, sometimes low-performing, emergent programming projects.

The creator openly discusses income sources—AdSense, Patreon, tips, potential sponsors—and the challenge of funding open-source-heavy work without compromising authenticity.