IME a lot of smart people aim at optimizing for whatever system they find themselves in, rather than questioning that system and asking themselves if it’s actually the life they want.
And so you get an army of very bright people all jumping through the same hoops to achieve the same goals, and half of them are miserable.
As someone who spends far too much time questioning the system, I often assume the hoop-jumpers are somehow happier. I wonder if life would be easier if I stopped worrying about the big picture.
I got to this point somewhat recently, I stopped worrying, I kind of broke. I still think about the big picture a few hundred times a day, but went from worrying about it and thinking it was something I could do anything about, and really am just kind of a nihilist now. I was a nihilist for a time as a teenager, saw the world, grew to want a better world, got mad (still am pretty mad) that we don't live in a better world (good job greed), and now I am just idk, participating in the circus for what it is.
A whole combination of things lead to that last year, I had to fire a bunch of people, quit my job, trump, family stuff, living situation stuff, dog passing, etc. But ya, not fun to go through, but I would say life is a little easier if you stop worrying about the big picture, you don't have to stop thinking about it or paying attention, but just recognize there's basically fuck all you can do by just worrying about it.
Bering "dumb" for a day just to know if I could be happier... I feel you.
My way to her happier was too stop following global news, even regional news. People around me well tell me the important things anyway.
Don't use the so called "social media"!
With so much free energy and attention, I now care about the areas that I can positively influence: me, close family, neighbors, friends, work, remote family.
And so you get an army of very bright people all jumping through the same hoops to achieve the same goals, and half of them are miserable.