Underdogs inspire me more than superstars

@John Doe Thanks, you make a good point about building a public image with money or influence.

Hi Paolo,

Lately, I have found myself more and more inspired by many down-to-earth people I come across everywhere. I feel I can relate to your post.

I think many of these success stories you refer to in your post are not completely accurate. With enough money, it is always possible to build a public image that often times differ drastically from reality.

Sure, Elon Musk and Bill Gates are very smart people, but I doubt they are 1000x smarter than an average computer engineer, still, they are orders of magnitude wealthier. Also, they both were born in a rich family, a small detail many overlook.

Of course, we have people like Steve Jobs, a creative genius and, as far as I know, a truly self-made millionaire. Someone who is now regarded among the few makers of the personal computer revolution. Fair enough. But we often forget the other Steve ... Wozniak, who walked away from his fancy position in Apple Computer in the early years; it was clear to him that he was an engineer, not a businessman. Woz belongs to that generation of thousands of unknown hackers who built from scratch the foundational knowledge of modern computing, many of the others are even less well known.

Maybe those creators have something that you (and me) don't: a mix of unique talents, money and “luck”. But, honestly, I don't think that contributes to a fulfilling life as many people believe.