There was this YouTube video that reported on how the average annual salary of the ultra elite high-IQ group, Mensa, was only around $250,000. News flash: money alone doesn’t make you happy or fulfilled. Smart people understand this. High salaried jobs also tend to attract this certain type of win-at-all-cost personality that’s just unbearable to be around. Yet, the video goes on to suggest that, because of this relatively low average annual salary, that these Mensa members were not inherently successful.
I think that says about our society at the moment that, to be considered successful, one has to attain a level of material and financial status as to make it onto the Forbes 100 list. It’s as if we are experiencing this collective emptiness that many instinctively try to fill with money and high end luxury goods. I think people who are truly intelligent understand that this strategy ultimately doesn’t last. You just end up with a lot of junk.
I have a friend who worked as a financial advisor at a bank in a customer facing role. He said something along the lines of that most people who have made a lot of money are just ordinary people who’ve stumbled into propitious circumstances. There’s nothing that special about them. I think that’s largely true in the business world.
The Ivory Tower 
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