[extropy-chat] Re: extropy-chat Digest, Vol 22, Issue 15

[Jeff Davis]

--- Claribel <claribel at intermessage.com> wrote:

> 
> From: "J. Andrew Rogers"
> <andrew at ceruleansystems.com>
> 
> > In countries where wealth is primarily self-made,
> which would include
> > the USA and probably Australia (but not most
> countries in western
> > Europe), I would *expect* declining satisfaction
> in the wealthiest
> > individuals -- it is a self-selecting population.
> >
> > One of the key characteristics of really
> successful entrepreneurs is
> > that they are "hungry" by nature i.e. they are
> never satisfied.  In
> > Silicon Valley, being "hungry" is often considered
> a non-negotiable
> > characteristic of core team members when building
> new companies.  There
> > is a strong correlation between this property and
> business success,
> > which puts a lot of the wealth in their hands as a
> group.  This is also
> > why successful entrepreneurs rarely retire, going
> on to more ventures.
> > They are driven toward stressful environments with
> hard problems to 
> > tackle.
> >
> > This may not explain all of it, but I'll bet it
> explains some of it.
> > Most successful entrepreneurs I know are as
> dissatisfied after they have
> > millions in the bank as when they were first
> starting out.  The money is
> > somewhat immaterial toward that end.  They may not
> be unhappy per se,
> > but they are hardly ever satisfied.
> 
> I've always thought that "satisfaction" is a vastly
> overrated virtue, and 
> using it to measure "happiness" or "subjective well
> being", as some 
> experimenters have, will produce skewed results.
> Divine dissatisfaction is 
> the root of human greatness.
> 
> Am I happy? Moderately to extremely so, depending on
> my mood (occasional, 
> biologically-driven depressive episodes excepted).
> Am I satisfied with my 
> life and level of being as it currently is? Hell,
> NO. Am I satisfied with 
> the progress I've been making? Yes. Perhaps it's the
> last variable that 
> explains it.
> 
> Claribel 
> 
> 
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