[inglor_cz]

I wish could answer that.

On one hand, the fact that a lot of smart people are trying to kill you is a great motivation for rapid technological advance and reduction of red tape.

On the other hand, many of the young men in uniform who were torn apart by shells and mines could have been new Einsteins.

[kaashif]

> many of the young men in uniform who were torn apart by shells and mines could have been new Einsteins.

The problem of geniuses dead in wars pales in comparison to the number languishing in poverty or ignorance. These may number in the billions right now.

How many potential Einsteins are miserably toiling away in dead end jobs? How many Ramanujans are eking out lives in villages in India? So on and so forth.

And another issue: if 100 million die in war or 1 billion aren't born due to fertility collapse, which is worse for progress?

[inglor_cz]

Or how many really brilliant people spend their lives trying to push even more ads on the population at large, for good money and good living standard, but mostly harming humanity instead of helping it with their talent.

Waste of talent doesn't necessarily take the form of poverty and danger. We should be aware of the other part of the scissor, because it means that improving living standards aren't a panacea for this problem.

Hungary 100 years ago, a fairly backward and mostly agricultural country, somehow produced a long string of incredible geniuses that contemporary Dubai cannot.