There’s so much interesting insight into human behavior in this article, I recommend reading the whole thing. There are two parts of the article that interested me in particular, and I’ll cover them in two separate posts.
The first part:
“In my experience, there was a high incidence of depression in the people who were born rich. And by contrast, the people today who are making a fortune are so often narcissistic in a way that excludes depression.”
We saw a documentary a while back titled “Born Rich” that discussed the existential angst of the children born into wealthy families. The film tried to address basic questions: what were they supposed to do with their lives, and how would they make their own mark if they never had to work at all? It was a strangely sad movie because most of these kids had no idea what to do with themselves. Their identity seemed entirely wrapped up in their families’ wealth.
As for the narcissism of the newly wealthy, it’s interesting to contrast this article with one from the same series about the guilt felt by many Silicon Valley millionaires over their “unearned” fortunes. I know from my own experience in Silicon Valley that it certainly has its share of narcissists.
Tomorrow: Responses to Success.
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