| > You can be happy and smart—it’s just going to take more work. > If you’re smart, you can figure out how to be healthy within your genetic constraints and how to be wealthy within your environmental constraints. Dumb and unhappy here (maybe? not sure, probably because dumb). I think there's a lot of us in the middle that can do some things reasonably well enough to be happy, but not all the things. It's hard to be happy if you're smart enough to know you have toxic traits or unhealthy habits that need to be addressed, but you don't have the time or energy to address them. I might be able to do a career and hit the gym, but not able to have any hobbies or enjoy social events. When I say "not able to", I mean "may cause depression and burnout that could lead to trouble maintaining employment if attempted and failed". Other people might be able to do a career, have side projects, and network at all the important events, but can't stop smoking cigarettes and chugging energy drinks. I see this all the time. People seem to generally alternate between goal-seeking behavior and coping mechanisms for damage caused by the former. Real people, perhaps dumb people, might be smart enough to know that happiness is attainable, but dumb enough to be incapable of precisely juggling all of a modern life in a way that feels successful. I can see the right answers to lots of things, but trying to keep up with all of it is exhausting. |