[_feda_]

I think the post, generally, is accurate, but the author is giving a little too much slack to those who, according to him/her, don't live by default. For example, you could argue that Picasso "lived by default"; his father was a painter, and he painted from very early in his life. So even though he never made a concieted effort to escape the normal path of his life, he was still succesfu l by practically any measure.