As someone who recently left a very well compensated position at a hedge fund, I disagree with all of this. >Even from the point of view of job satisfaction. T

As someone who recently left a very well compensated position at a hedge fund, I disagree with all of this. >Even from the point of view of job satisfaction. The more $ you are paid, the more expensive it is for the company to waste your time. Having the company not waste your time is not in the top 10 most important factors for job satisfaction. And anyway, that just means you have less down time and less personal time. It's not a good thing. >it means you are working with other high-paid people, which means they are results-oriented - not there for some childish, naive crusade to change the world. Yes, they have optimized for income (not "results", in any meaningful sense!) over other considerations. At the extreme you will be surrounded by talented psychopaths. That is not the path to a happy life.