It can be a little disheartening to discover some really obscure thing and then discover that Gauss beat you to it 170 years ago, over and over again.
The next problem you get is that increasingly discovery isn't the limiting factor, being able to usefully communicate about a discovery is. You might find all manner of useful stuff, but good luck getting it in front of someone who needs to know it. At least you won't have the weird academic pressures to obfscuate your work to make it sound more complicated when you publish about it, IF you can find a useful way to publish about it.
The next problem you get is that increasingly discovery isn't the limiting factor, being able to usefully communicate about a discovery is. You might find all manner of useful stuff, but good luck getting it in front of someone who needs to know it. At least you won't have the weird academic pressures to obfscuate your work to make it sound more complicated when you publish about it, IF you can find a useful way to publish about it.