Ask HN: At 34, can I aspire to being more than a JavaScript widget engineer?

I’ve spent a decade doing frontend work. It pays pretty well but I am essentially just making modals and dropdowns for CRUD apps. I crave more purpose in life but understand the most rational choice is to keep going and saving for retirement.

Does it make sense to change direction at this point? I envy PhDs working on self-driving cars and rockets and AI. But also question overall morality of the tech industry.