> if you transferred that wealth to any of us we may handle it better or worse but it would invariably distort our decision making and worldview. Not only that

> if you transferred that wealth to any of us we may handle it better or worse but it would invariably distort our decision making and worldview. Not only that, but the process of making that wealth for yourself both requires and fosters certain mindsets that are deeply unhealthy both for the individual and for society (through their influence on it). Just as a for instance, if I were ever to end up in a position (and I know many other people who would act similarly) where I was making, say, $1 million/year, I would first make sure that things in my life were arranged just so (pay off mortgages, buy higher-quality stuff, etc)...but this would only take me so far. Even if I changed my lifestyle significantly, within no more than a few years, I would find myself without significant new things to do with that money. At that point, my attention would turn to trying to put that money to as good a use as possible: improving other people's lives. In doing so, I would take myself out of a position to use that money as leverage to get even more money for myself. And again, I believe that many other people would do the same. To make oneself a billionaire requires one to be so insensitive to other people's needs, or so focused on increasing one's own dollar-denominated high score that one becomes blind to them, and instead turns it all inward. Then, of course, once one starts down the road of "I need more for me," it rewards doubling down on that mindset in various ways, thus effectively training the brain to be more and more selfish. (If I were to, through no specific effort of my own, end up with even one billion dollars, I can't even imagine what I would do with the vast majority of it. It would, indeed, distort my decision-making processes, but partly just because it's so far beyond anything I can reasonably conceive of.)