>>>It doesn’t have to be noble, it doesn’t have to be for the greater good, just do something!
I'd argue that to be inspired to pursue acts of greatness, people need to, in the words of Patrice O'Neal, "Believe in their own righteousness". I'd say that in the Western world today, that is HEAVILY frowned upon, and self-deprecating guilt over economic success is lauded as a virtue. We're in an awkward time, where we haven't reached conditions of post-scarcity, but still have instances of overwhelming material abundance. We are only a few generations removed (if at all), from times when humanity would slaughter each other by the millions to secure resources. It's in our DNA and in our culture, in deep-seated ways. So humans still have an acquisitive nature but have no muse to provide them with direction.
>>>Build a palace to rival the Queen’s! Build an enormous statue of yourself! Hire a thousand concubines on a desert island!
Yeah, that's how you end up with the commoners at your gate with pitchforks when the revolution comes. And on that last one.....arguably Epstein pursued that course of action and nobody says "Well at least he was doing something interesting" about that guy...
I'd argue that to be inspired to pursue acts of greatness, people need to, in the words of Patrice O'Neal, "Believe in their own righteousness". I'd say that in the Western world today, that is HEAVILY frowned upon, and self-deprecating guilt over economic success is lauded as a virtue. We're in an awkward time, where we haven't reached conditions of post-scarcity, but still have instances of overwhelming material abundance. We are only a few generations removed (if at all), from times when humanity would slaughter each other by the millions to secure resources. It's in our DNA and in our culture, in deep-seated ways. So humans still have an acquisitive nature but have no muse to provide them with direction.
>>>Build a palace to rival the Queen’s! Build an enormous statue of yourself! Hire a thousand concubines on a desert island!
Yeah, that's how you end up with the commoners at your gate with pitchforks when the revolution comes. And on that last one.....arguably Epstein pursued that course of action and nobody says "Well at least he was doing something interesting" about that guy...