[hermitShell]

It's a great essay, and I came away with a similar thought. They mention Erdos and applaud his intensity, transparently mentioning that he was an addict to antidepressants and amphetamines, and without the substance abuse he wasn't able to get any mathematical work done.

To me this is the antithetical to being intellectually rich. More like enslaved to our own intellectualism.

I want to have the freedom to think about the things that I want to think about. Being forced instead to reason through problems, not of my choosing, on behalf of someone else... well that's life for most!