Comments on: Why Many Smart People Hate Money (Plus: Crucial Distinctions)

By: Ignorance is not Bliss

Ignorance is not Bliss — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 01:08:21 +0000

I’m a 23 year old Graduate who can relate to many points in this article. I have scraped through my education without obtaining very high grades. This was not because of a lack of intelligence but rather a lack of effort. I was lacking the motivation required to do the work effectively because the education system did not reward brriliance rather punished anyone doing things differently. Now everyone is saying I’m wasting my talent but I am content with my life, I don’t have expensive tastes and money is not an entity which I require in abundance.
The problem that I have is that society is so hell bent on ones status and it dismays me. I have a girlfriend that always goes on about money money money, Friends, Family everywhere you go people are jus so seduced by money and power that it has become more important then hapiness, Knowledge and morality.
Maybe it’s like Jon said it’s human nature but I do not want to join the masses rather I’m trying to be a beacon of common sense for people to consider and evaluate thier priorities. However I’m not confident lol

By: Andres

Andres — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:46:33 +0000

Hi to all.
As a kid I’ve grown up with “Star Trek – The next generation” on the TV.
It was about future technology at first glance.
But actually it was about right and wrong, morality.
The story shows a society where private ownership / greed is no longer nesacery.
Of course you can own personal things but it’s not like anyone wants them, because there is no scarcity there.
We still know scarcity, but :
It’s only there because the world is under none or very poor management.
For instance : food
In the western world we throw away more than we actually eat ! While in Africa for instance people die of starvation.
Crops are destroyed when there are to many of them to keep the price high enough, they drive over them with a tractor, I’ve seen it, and farmers that I meet are honnest about it, its just about money.
So I would say :
Money is part of the problem, although the system of capitalism is actually the main problem.
I’m not saying that I know something better.
Actually when you think about it : mankind (or nature) is the problem ;
we are greedy, it’s survival instinct.

By: Niki

Niki — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:35:47 +0000

Well, I, for one, also consider myself as a “smart person” (which could in fact mean a lot of things, as I will explain below). And when I stumbled upon this article accidentally (thank you Internet!) from a faraway country called Indonesia, I couldn’t stop to smile & nod my head several times in agreement.

I think in general, I can very much understand what Jon (the writer of this controversial-yet-fantastic-and-stirring article) said, and perhaps also experienced.
And of all the wonderful comments above, I also can really relate with almost all Trudy Ford said.

And here’s my straight-to-the-point commentary (& perspective) for this sort of “sad-but-true” fact/reality:
Any of you who has at least hear, know, and especially follow those Personality & Aptitude tests (my favorite being Myers-Briggs (MBTI) Personality test, you guys should try it, just google it!), there are in fact different kind of “smarts”.

There are people who are smart (& I mean, really, really smart, & also focused/passionate) in mechanics,
There are people who are smart (& I mean, really, really smart, & also focused/passionate) in economics,
or history, or any other intellectual pursuits such as philosophy, metaphysics (I myself am an enthusiast in these latter fields),
There are people who are smart (& I mean, really, really smart, and perhaps I’d say: very talented) in Arts, such as Music, Graphic Design, etc.
And, last but not least,…
There are people who are ’smart’ -you guessed what- in making money, AND investing, AND managing it.

Of course, there are some recent studies that shows how being “smart” at one thing, and “inclined/passionate” at it, both have a huge correlation,
but my point is this: It is indeed quite ’sad’ (or ‘unfortunately’), -like Jon & some other commenters here also seemed to agree, directly or indirectly- that since this REAL-world needs MONEY in almost everything, thus, it is those type of “people who are smart in making money, & investing & managing it” (not to mention also very inclined/passionate) whom in the end, seems to get the *MOST* in this REAL-world.

A real-life example: those people who’ve known me quite well, would easily describe me as a “smart young guy”, and some of them seem to ‘get it’ that I am “smart” (& also passionate, or inclined) in particular/specific fields such as: Philosophy, metaphysical, religions, imaginations, Art, and generally in questioning-little-things-in-life, but most especially, in Music.

But alas!
Very similar with what Trudy Ford (& I bet many other kind of “smart” people!) have experienced,
‘unfortunately’, I am still even admittedly sucks, or even at worst, in those “making money, investing, and managing it” things!
and DON’T ASK ME WHY is this!.. As far as I know, it seems like I’m just *not* naturally inclined to it (even after some learning & my several attempts TRYING to *like* to pursue Money!).
And this, unfortunately, is just like what Jon described above very well: it elicits reactions from many, many people who don’t seem to understand me, of why I don’t use my “smart-ness” for the pursuit of money, for my personal GAIN!

And my response/answer?
It’s also just like what many of you seemed to agree here: to me, Money is definitely *NOT* everything in my life, and at my current age of 28 yrs old, and after several attempts at *trying HARD* to love the idea of “living only for accumulating the biggest money/wealth” , I have come to a conclusion now that to me personally, the “costs” is just not worth it!
Sure, you can spend many of your time to study, and get the so-called “big money” and/or “big career”, or status -whatever-, but I would wholeheartedly agree that this Life simply can’t be ‘cramped-down’ into only ONE little path of “making-money-till-we-die”.
There are many different kind of people (thankfully),
There are also many different kind of “smarts”, and “passionates”,
There are, consequentially, many different PATHS one can take in life.

I think, the worst that an individual/person can do in his/her own life, is to reject, or abandon his/her own ‘natural smart’ (or talent, etc), just to ‘fit-in’ into the mold of OTHER’s, and hence, wasting it all, just to become who he/she is not,….especially if all done in-the-name-of-Money.

Thank god that this world (& Life) is not ALL filled with only “money-smart” type of people,
but it’s also filled with many, different variety of “smart” types!

Love this piece of blog-writing,
and I think I will share this to many friends of mine.
Keep writing, and sharing!
-Nik-

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:26:56 +0000

I hate money as well. IT’s EVIL!

By: Brother B

Brother B — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:42:41 +0000

Money only functions when someone has it and someone else doesn’t, but needs it to survive. If everyone had the same amount of money as their employers, no one would ever work for the accomplishment of a dream that wasn’t theirs. Monetary equality would undermine the whole system. All money embodies is a symbolic application of slavery: Subservience to power in trade for being allowed to survive.

The solution to being smart enough to see the downside of money isn’t to alter your perceptions so that you’re okay having monetary power over the less intelligent for the purpose of creating your own insulated world at the expense of theirs.

The attainment of money by one decreases the survival potential of many others, or, at best, puts that potential against their will into the one’s hands.

It’s abominable.

By: Trudy Ford

Trudy Ford — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:57:06 +0000

Remember that idiotic saying, “Do what you love and the money will follow”? I think it became a mantra for baby managers and Yuppies in the 1980s. Someone brought it up when I was speaking to a group of students at a high school Career Day program, and I corrected them: “Do what you love because you love it.” (Of course, they looked at me like I was wacko.)
Supposedly, I was brilliant in school. Nobody told me that I had a disgustingly high IQ until many years after I graduated from college, probably so that I wouldn’t become stuck-up or neurotic about it. All I know is that I was reading and writing at age 3, and throughout grade school I finished my lessons before all the other kids, and the teachers would ask me to help tutor the slow kids. (Later they told me I was reading at the 9th grade level in first grade.) By the time I was in the 4th grade I started to resent it because I wasn’t getting paid to teach, it took up time I could have spent reading books (which I liked), and I realized most of the other kids couldn’t stand me because I was the smartest kid in the class.
By the time I was in high school, I announced to my parents and teachers that I was going to focus most of my academic efforts on English, since I planned to be a writer. I would try to get good grades in journalism, history, and music, which I also liked. But I would settle for C’s in math and science, since average skills would suffice in those areas, and I refused to engage in sports, because I knew I wouldn’t need those skills at all. Of course, the adults were livid. They informed me that I “could be a straight-A student” if I “wanted to.” I informed them that I knew this, but I did not “want” to be a “straight-A student,” and was baffled as to why they didn’t comprehend the logic behind my decision.
Weirdly enough, IQ-wise, I was the smartest student in my class. But because of the stubborn choices I made, I did not graduate in the top 10%. I was nominated for National Honor Society but never admitted because the students on the review panel thought I “didn’t smile enough” (or so one teacher told me). I did get a scholarship to college, although it was for winning a piano competition.
Numbers, and money in particular, have always given me the willies. I purposely never learned to balance a checkbook — I just rounded amounts off to the next highest dollar amount, or whatever sounded easy. I let H&R Block do my taxes. I got rid of all my credit cards and eventually my checkbook, and now I just use a debit card. I don’t even carry cash. It’s too much trouble. I have my employer deposit my check in the bank, and I never check the balance — I just have a rough idea of what’s there. For me, money is there to solve life’s problems and make us comfortable. I don’t care about buying the fanciest or most expensive things, just something that’s durable and appealing. I also like to pay other people well when they do something for me. I’m not stingy, and I can’t stand people who hoard money. For a while, I was a freelance writer and graphic designer, but I was horrible at it — not because I had no talent, but because I could never collect money from my clients. I just didn’t care. All I cared about was doing the work. I hated collecting money. I couldn’t even figure out what my work was worth. I’d lose track of how long I spent working on something because I had too much fun doing it, so I couldn’t charge by the hour. I’d end up bartering my work for dinner. I was such a whore!

By: Complete Dedicated Value Special Link Exchange

Complete Dedicated Value Special Link Exchange — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:03:40 +0000

I don’t quite understand what y Smart People Hate Money (Plus: Crucial Distinctions) is…

By: JufaryJeara

JufaryJeara — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:52:32 +0000

Lo! Men have become the tool of their tools.
– Henry David Thoreau

—————————————————————————————————-
http://xanga.com/noearmstrongra

By: Luke

Luke — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:37:32 +0000

Again, good article. It’s a crucial distinction that, while we may hate it as a taskmaster in life, we may also accept it as the means to make positive changes in life.

Money is a band-aid over the scarcity problem. Theoretically, putting sufficient quantities of it into the hands of intelligent people could alleviate the scarcity problem in a more general way. Smart people thus have a duty to leverage their intelligence to a maximum financial advantage, in order to finally address this problem.

By: Michael J. Welch

Michael J. Welch — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:08:14 +0000

I thought I should leave a few comments, since apparently my referring Ryan to this article has started a bit of a debate. I know Ryan personally, and “self-important” does not describe him at all.

First, let me say that this article really hit home with me. I hate the mold that I am forced into in order to make money. I hate that in order to make a lot of money in the way I want, I need money. It’s a terrible paradox. But I agree with Ryan. It’s not money’s fault. It’s society’s fault. But really, there’s nothing that can be done about it. Scarcity is a reality. Like the article said, we have to accept it in order to work with it.

My big problem with this article, and I think it’s what Ryan objects to as well, is the term “Smart People.” I think the proper term here is “Dreamer” or “Romantic.” I proudly call myself a member of both, but being part of those does not automatically make me smart.

Also, I keep running into this, and it always bugs me. Money is not the root of all evil. “The love of money is the root of all evil.”