11 Reader Responses

1. james Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 4:29 pm

   Smart people know that wealth is nothing without character.

2. alistair Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 4:35 pm

   i was challenged by a man of some fanancial means once. he became disconcerted at what he felt to be my “having an answer to everything”. he said “if i was smart, how come i wasn`t rich?” i tend not to respond to that sort of statement. i didn`t want to point out some things he might not be ready for. his correlation of intelligence and money was wishful thinking on his part. his money had come from skills commonly available in industry and an exceptional work ethic. he had earned his money and doggedly grown a multi-million dollar technology company.
   unfortunately, he was a full-blooded asshole with little or no social skills but for the position brought by his ferrari parked in front of the coffee shop each day.
   his abrasive nature was ruining his health and relationships increasingly and eventually i found another coffee shop.
   he wanted something his money couldn`t buy. i was unable to sell it to him. not a good basis for friendship.
   money comes to the money motivated. some of those people are smart too. there are plenty of stupid rich people as well.

3. Tim Boucher Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 4:41 pm

   Agreed. I think it’s a great rhetorical can-opener for all these issues. That’s why I posted it.

4. Dan Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 4:57 pm

   Money is not worth working hard. I find that it’s more fun trying to figure out how to live cheaply.

5. Tim Boucher Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 5:00 pm

   Depends on where you’re at in your life, I think. I’ve had a lot of fun living cheaply for several years. And now I think it might be fun to try and leverage my smarts towards the money game.

6. albion Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 5:45 pm

   i have never noticed any correlation between intelligence and wealth.

7. Nicq MacDonald Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 6:41 pm

   Well, let’s see…

   It’s always struck me that quite a bit of striking it rich is luck- being in the right place at the right time. The perennial example, for instance, is Bill Gates- while he’s undoubtably a brilliant man, he made his cash by taking advantage of a situation that had presented itself; and got extremely lucky. As far as raw intelligence and ability goes, however, he has many people working beneath him who outstrip him in those departments- with their six-figure Microsoft incomes, they’re hardly poor, but they’re not billionaires either. And, keep in mind that many of the most conventionally intelligent people out there work in academia; again, while they aren’t earning minimum wage (in most cases), profs are hardly rich.

   Part of it seems to be doing what you love… ever since I started working in business research, I’ve started to ponder getting an MBA after I finish my MA in Western Classics next year. Salivating over the stock options and salaries of the executives whose business plans I spend each day grinding out, I keep thinking to myself, “I could do that; save, invest right, pony up a couple million and retire by 40…” Yet at the same time, the thought of spending 10+ years of my life working a job that I hate doesn’t appeal to me. On the other hand, when I imagine myself as a professor, teaching undergraduates, writing papers and books, attending conferences with other crazy academics, I see a job that would be worth getting out of bed for in the morning. When I imagine myself as a corporate paper pusher or exec, I just see my precious time on this earth being devoured by a system that I can’t stand.

   (That, and if I wait long enough and my father doesn’t write me out of the will, I’ll be rich anyway. Though given the longevity of men in my family, that probably won’t be until sometime after 2040…)

8. Fell Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 6:54 pm

   I agree, which is why I like to play my own games from within the system à la Ramsey Dukes. As for money, all I have to say is that Hagbard Celine is my freakin’ hero. I figure, all in my own good time. It takes a while to get as suspiciously brilliant as I intend to.

   I’m still a proponent of the End of Days, figuring I’s be needin’ a goal to work towards.

9. Tim Boucher Says:
   September 7th, 2005 at 7:24 pm

   I’m kind of surprised so many people seem to be saying that making money doesn’t require intelligence.

   In reference to Bill Gates in particular, Nicq wrote:

   while he’s undoubtably a brilliant man, he made his cash by taking advantage of a situation that had presented itself; and got extremely lucky. As far as raw intelligence and ability goes, however, he has many people working beneath him who outstrip him in those department

   Taking advantage of situations IS intelligence. Hiring people who are smarter than you is also probably the most brilliant thing you can do

10. Nicq MacDonald Says:
    September 8th, 2005 at 2:52 pm

    Yes, exactly… but that also means that there are extremely smart people who aren’t as well paid as some who lack the same abilities (though they have an ability to recognize talent when they see it). Luck, as I mentioned, is also a major factor- how many people work hard all their lives, but never quite “make it” because they’ve never been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time?

    That, and there are apparently multiple kinds of intelligences; not to mention the fact that desire and charisma play roles too. There are plenty of brilliant people who just can’t “sell themselves” well in a job interview. Not to mention satiability- not everyone has the drive to become a billionaire; I’d quit after about $2 Mil, dump all my money into diversified money markets and live a modest middle class existence for the rest of my life- I have little desire for a mansion and a Maybach when a nice old rotting victorian and a late-model Toyota will do just fine… and my time would be my own.

11. james Says:
    September 8th, 2005 at 6:24 pm

    Taking advantage of a situation is intelligence, but not the same KIND of intelligence. It’s a reptilian intelligence, based upon forfeiting conscience. Bill Gates is opportunistic and reaps the benefits, but someone like Steve Jobs reaps a different set of benefits.

    To break it down: technically, it’s ingenious to sell crack cocaine instead of working a 9 to 5 and paying taxes. It’s someone taking advantage of BAD situations (drug addiction, crime, poverty) and making them work for them. BUT… it’s not exactly conscientious to destroy your own community just because you don’t want to work a full-time job.

    I think that’s why Gates gives so much to charity: he’s trying to buy his way into heaven because he knows his works won’t hold up under scrutiny.

    Speaking of good works: ever heard of Emmanuel Swedenbourg?