> For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.
Is a smart person who scratches his or her own itches and lives a happy life unproductive if scratching those itches doesn't produce things (accomplishments, wealth, etc.) that are visible to and valued by others?
Let me put it this way. I've known some very smart people who have led unhappy lives. They did not enjoy their lives of failure. They'd pick the right things to work on, but were too lazy to do the necessary work, and it would just peter out into nothing.
Like one guy who decided that being a real estate agent was the path to success. He studied for and aced the exam to get a license with ease. He quit after a few weeks of discovering that being a successful agent required focused effort, and went back to living hand to mouth.
His life was a sequence of one scheme like that after another, until he passed away young from neglecting his health.
It still pains me to recount this, he was a good guy.
Out of all the "smart" and "less smart" people I know/have known, the ones who seem to be happiest are not those who pick the "right things" to work on but those who know how to put "work" in its proper place.
Success and failure aren't always about money and the kind of accomplishments that society values most.
I always loved this passage from Hitchhikers:
> For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.
Is a smart person who scratches his or her own itches and lives a happy life unproductive if scratching those itches doesn't produce things (accomplishments, wealth, etc.) that are visible to and valued by others?