What got you hooked on programming and problem solving?

As a kid I was always fascinated with sci-fi and futuristic TV shows like Time Tunnel, Lost In Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek. I read books like Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine in elementary school. I was always taking stuff apart as a kid, usually breaking it! I got a record player for Christmas one year and 3 months later was using it as a suitcase because I had taken it apart.

So when our high school offered a computer science class, I took it on a whim and was completely hooked. Have loved it ever since and for the most part, feel like I've never truly "worked" a day in my life, even though I've spent most of my working life on a computer. My personality type is INTP (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Prospecting) which probably has a lot to do with it.

I think I'm not special in my reason why: just sheer curiosity.

I got my first computer when I was around 4 years old and I was immediately hooked.

I mean if you think about it the whole idea is just really cool. No extra motivation needed for me.