Ooof, this hits home. Was told my whole entire childhood that I would "cure cancer" (Why all the adults decided I would do that is beyond me) and that the world

Ooof, this hits home. Was told my whole entire childhood that I would "cure cancer" (Why all the adults decided I would do that is beyond me) and that the world would kneel at my feet because I was intelligent. Come to find out, I'm not all that intelligent when compared to other really intelligent people, and the world actually doesn't care so much about whether you are smart - especially in late capitalism when 'hustle' (and audacity) (and maybe some amorality/sociopathy) seems to be much more well-rewarded politically and financially. All I have to say is that you need to be careful what information you are inputting and what social circle you keep as well. ie; it was very easy when I was a poor activist that never read HN and had no hope of even making rent that month to not give a shit about money (and often, to semi-despise those people going after it) Now, as a programmer, making what my former-self would have thought would be obscene amounts of money, I often catch myself jealous of people that get paid more, that didn't spend 10-15 years doing activist work and instead bought passive investments, etc etc. Do I really care about money that much? No, not really. But because I'm exposed to way more people way more often making way more my brain automatically wants to compare in that direction. It's trickier than I thought.