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Notes -
Traveling to poor countries really drove this home for me. I was wildly impressed by the talent and drive and flexibility of people in Thailand, for example, compared to people in rich countries, despite the vastly greater resources that people in rich countries have access to. I was so impressed by the intelligence that people applied to every day jobs and felt really sad that people in America have all the resources in the world but apply so little of themselves to their everyday lives. Every day life in poor countries has to feel so much more empowering and rewarding than every day life in rich countries, where we're not as vulnerable to catastrophe on an every day basis as in poor countries.
Regarding the rest of the JRR Tolkien quote, I'm not surprised he or any other teacher liked these "dull" students: being around dumb people makes you feel smart. I'm sure it was very gratifying to him to educate dull students, rather than more educated ones who could challenge his intelligence in any way. Granted I have a very cynical and negative view of educators and education generally. (Speaking charitably, though, I do think that it's a noble thing to want to educate people and share your knowledge with others.)
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