Quote Originally Posted by Gandalf View Post
Dude, you clearly have far more time than me right now. I honestly do not have the time to go deeply into your post. I do not dismiss art at all. I get so much joy from the beauty of language, of music. These things are balms to the eternally restless soul. I do not like abstract painting very much, but enjoy a lot of traditional art, architecture and if one has an interest in Wilde then how on earth can one be dismissive of beauty?

The crux of this thread is my curiosity about why people choose to stay poor and I don't really understand it. You can say I have 'sold out' all you like but I am not sure who has bought me exactly. I have complete freedom in my work and do exactly what I want.

I can only put some of the choice making down to a religion of consumerism. You might think I am materialistic but I am not particularly so. I just do not go out of my way to spend everything I earn. 'Oh, you must be so boring'. Not really. The only thing you know about me really is that I tend to read books. You don't know about my day to day life really, so I am always confused by your projections. I have a lot more freedom than you do.

As for IQ, I don't even pretend to have a super high IQ. I am just realistic in that I know I am in the top 10% band and it somewhat explains where I am and the choices I seem to make. If I had an average IQ of 90 I simply wouldn't be able to do the things I do. I would be more likely to be in prison, or a runaway Dad, or unemployed though.

Yes, I do believe in a meritocracy. I think we generally find our path within the range of our abilities and there is nothing wrong with that. I know I am not cut out to understand complex mathematics. I have limitations like anyone else. And death awaits us all.

I just think we can either choose to try or not try and yes in that sense you did a good thing in applying for a job and accepting the failure that went with it. I cocked up a job interview last winter too. It happens. And no they were not white, Denilson.
It is lunchtime mate. Seriously that is again projection on your part. I don't understand why you find it so hard to accept that millions of people make a living using their creative intelligence.