You might have more money, but if they are happier, they're doing better. Being satisfied does not mean settling.
I knew early on that a high-stress job was not going to be healthy for me even though I had the skills for a higher level job. So I carefully chose different positions in the company that fit my requirements and at the same time let me be seen as a high performer. Turned down two big promotions over a period of time which obviously had a financial cost but it wasn't worth it to me to take the money and the stress/travel/extra hours. So while 80% of the people who have "passed me up" on the corporate ladder have left (75% got the boot, 25% left for other jobs), I still have my low stress job that will result in early retirement down the road. The next rung up has far more travel, far more stress, far more hours, and nowhere near enough additional pay. I work with those higher-ups all the time, and I can see how that stress takes a toll. You can't compartmentalize work stress into just the work hours. It bleeds into all aspects of your life.
But it's kind of a "waste of brain". You have this powerful brain that is one of many that can solve some of the world's hardest problems. Chooses to become a public school teacher!!!
There was this girl I went to HS with who had 1540 SAT scores (out of 1600). She had taken 4 - 5 AP courses and obtained 3's and 4's on her AP exams and had a 4.0 GPA. She practically could go to any ivy league college under the sun. Colleges where sending her "pre-acceptance" letters based on her PSAT scores!!!
She became a Elementary school teacher making 55K a year. My thinking is this type of person should be put to good use in a laboratory finding cures to diseases or in business etc...
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Correct, you're incredibly wise to take stability over prestige and money. Think about all the moving costs those guys eat moving around and changing jobsI knew early on that a high-stress job was not going to be healthy for me even though I had the skills for a higher level job. So I carefully chose different positions in the company that fit my requirements and at the same time let me be seen as a high performer. Turned down two big promotions over a period of time which obviously had a financial cost but it wasn't worth it to me to take the money and the stress/travel/extra hours. So while 80% of the people who have "passed me up" on the corporate ladder have left (75% got the boot, 25% left for other jobs), I still have my low stress job that will result in early retirement down the road. The next rung up has far more travel, far more stress, far more hours, and nowhere near enough additional pay. I work with those higher-ups all the time, and I can see how that stress takes a toll. You can't compartmentalize work stress into just the work hours. It bleeds into all aspects of your life.
Correct, you're incredibly wise to take stability over prestige and money. Think about all the moving costs those guys eat moving around and changing jobs
I find this scenario far more perplexing than the OP's rant.Some of the smartest people I know do some pretty mundane jobs. One buddy is a true oxygen thief. He's a part time house painter and most of the time unemployed person. Just don't play any kind of games with him unless you like to lose. Chess, othello, scrabble, you name it he'll whip you at it. Mind like a steel trap. Can fix or build almost anything and pretty much needs to because he can't afford to buy any of it.
Sometimes I feel sad or pity for him and then I got up the guts to straight asked him wtf his problem was. He said he loves the freedom to apply his intelligence in any way he sees fit every single day. It might be nice if it wasn't tax payer funded.....
I find this scenario far more perplexing than the OP's rant.
Realtor fees? Apartment Deposits? Stuff you can't bring with you? etc.To be fair, every job offer I've had since school included the cost of professional movers. I don't think that's all that uncommon either
It's hard to imagine how someone that smart can be that stupid, but it goes to show intelligence is measured in many different ways. And it's not everything. If he's happy, he's probably got something coveted that most of the world ['developed' or not] doesn't.When I was in undergrad 25 years ago or so, I had a professor who told us the story of one of the smartest guys he knew. Like the professor, this guy went through and got a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He then landed a job at a university in Hawaii (IIRC). He decided he liked surfing and being a beach bum more than being a professor, and I don't recall the details of what caused him to leave academia - either he just quit or he was fired for never being there. At any rate, the professor told me that the last he heard, the guy was bagging groceries in Hawaii and was still a beach bum!
Some people live to work. I find it is better to work to live. Have a high quality life instead of striving to meet whatever someone else (such as steppinthrax) determines that you should be doing.
Your example is of someone making 50x the world median income working 9 months a year. Heck, she alone made nearly 10% more than the median US household income (combining all workers in the family). She is doing VERY well at $55k/year if you think of the big picture.
She is never on-call, she doesn't have much stress, when she comes home, her job is over for the day. A lot of the people making more money than her are tethered to their work emails and texts unable to truly let work go.
Then she has her evenings, and weekends, and holidays, and summers free to pursue life.
That, and I think that recently I read that ambition was largely genetic. I didn't take the time to search for that study though to post here.
Strictly speaking, intelligence is just about problem solving, it has nothing to do with how motivated or knowledgeable a person is.It's hard to imagine how someone that smart can be that stupid, but it goes to show intelligence is measured in many different ways. And it's not everything. If he's happy, he's probably got something coveted that most of the world ['developed' or not] doesn't.
I’d be tempted to ‘settle’ for this job if the world somehow offered me this for rest of my life + adjusting for inflation raise, but with ZERO advancement.
I'm not sure what you do for a living OP