I find it interesting how people want to characterize your choice between "living easy" versus "living interesting". Or "living simple" versus "living complacen

I find it interesting how people want to characterize your choice between "living easy" versus "living interesting". Or "living simple" versus "living complacent". There seems to be this tendency to inject some negative connotations into the approach of "living simple" such as "it's not interesting", "it's not difficult", "you aren't challenging yourself", "you are being lazy", "you are being complacent". There seems to be something innate in people that needs to attack this alternative approach to life. It seems to be going over peoples heads that being personally smarter has the potential to enrich your own life in ways that being rich/being the "idea guy" don't. If you "aren't smart", it doesn't matter how much immense wealth you have, your personal relationships will be affected in some pretty fundamental ways. I think there is a philosophy at the heart of Y Combinator and their philosophy that "ideas and execution are everything" - you need to start from a creative place and can fill in smart people as tools to enable your vision later. A corollary to this attitude is that they look for passionate younger people and foster an approach which is work very hard during your younger years building on your idea. I find it relevant to share the Parable of the Fisherman from the 4 day workweek: An American investment banker was taking a much-needed vacation in a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. The boat had several large, fresh fish in it. The investment banker was impressed by the quality of the fish and asked the Mexican how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.” The banker then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican fisherman replied he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?” The Mexican fisherman replied, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos: I have a full and busy life, señor.” The investment banker scoffed, “I am an Ivy League MBA, and I could help you. You could spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats until eventually, you would have a whole fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to the middleman you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You could control the product, processing and distribution.” Then he added, “Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City where you would run your growing enterprise.” The Mexican fisherman asked, “But señor, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15–20 years.” “But what then?” asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You could make millions.” “Millions, señor? Then what?” To which the investment banker replied, “Then you would retire. You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”