Having had a few run-ins with the wealthy (perhaps one to two rungs under the people in this article) over the years, I think it is very tough for psychological development when people around you need to act like you’re incredibly smart and savvy at all times, just in case you’ll give them money. In fact, you might have been reasonably smart and nice when you were 20, but growth for the next 50 years comes from honest feedback and continual learning, not continual validation. And you can see it here: the world’s smartest, most accomplished people who have run endless gauntlets to get to where they are now, are expected to seek and hear the opinions of the wealthy as intellectual partners, but with less pushback and sparring than they’d give a true intellectual partner. It’s just not very good for people!
medeaschariot | a day ago
Having had a few run-ins with the wealthy (perhaps one to two rungs under the people in this article) over the years, I think it is very tough for psychological development when people around you need to act like you’re incredibly smart and savvy at all times, just in case you’ll give them money. In fact, you might have been reasonably smart and nice when you were 20, but growth for the next 50 years comes from honest feedback and continual learning, not continual validation. And you can see it here: the world’s smartest, most accomplished people who have run endless gauntlets to get to where they are now, are expected to seek and hear the opinions of the wealthy as intellectual partners, but with less pushback and sparring than they’d give a true intellectual partner. It’s just not very good for people!
Accomplished_Sci | a day ago
Good god. It’s horrific to think about their thoughts and how they got there.
181822 | a day ago
great essay
Acceptable-Driver566 | 3 hours ago
Read this a few days ago, and I still think about it. It is a fantastic read!