> Nobody is paying attention and actively prides themselves in not learning and never reading a book in their lives, that's the problem.

If we had a more meritocratic society, I doubt people would pride themselves in their ignorance.

But as it stands, our society rewards both luck and misfortune - and we privatize gains and socialize losses.

Combine that with the fact that access corruption is rampant in Western societies - and the way to succeed is to take excessive risk, woo gatekeepers, execute, and get lucky.

Only one of those requires the type of intelligence you get in school (execution). And if you have enough luck or corruption, you don't even need to execute.

Why do the hard work on trying to find cures for common forms of cancer, make breakthroughs toward fusion energy, or increase crop yields on staple crops - when you can take on excessive risk in property speculation and your odds of financial success are many times higher?

I'm a strong believer that the world is getting better every day - even in recent times. But I'm not sure how much longer that trend will last in a world that gives smart people very few incentives to do things that actually benefit society.

Maybe with enough people we're destined to get lucky and progress no matter what.