There is this notion I see going around that in the past people survived by being brutish animals and smart people would have died quick. In fact, it's the opposite. We outcompeted other animals because we are NOT like them. Because we engineer. In a hunter gatherer society someone who builds traps, designs better huts or tents, etc could be extremely valuable.
Buffet's self-deprecation is admirable but lacks imagination.
The thing is just that I've been obsessed with computers my whole life and can't imagine myself being, for example, an aqueduct engineer or a blacksmith.
Where Buffet's quote struck a chord is that I'm thankful that society allows me to do what I love, but I should stay mindful that not all people have those opportunities.
I suppose a different way to look at it is that had I lived in a time before computers I wouldn't have known what I was missing out on, so there's that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_engineering
There is this notion I see going around that in the past people survived by being brutish animals and smart people would have died quick. In fact, it's the opposite. We outcompeted other animals because we are NOT like them. Because we engineer. In a hunter gatherer society someone who builds traps, designs better huts or tents, etc could be extremely valuable.
Buffet's self-deprecation is admirable but lacks imagination.