PG's main point is a good one, though perhaps obscured by a few cherry picked observations. Autonomy allows for faster learning. Learning brings happiness. Autonomy is easier to find in small group settings.
The push-back that this is a privileged position is interesting. Initially I thought so but maybe that's too harsh. Controlling your expenses and keeping it to a bare minimum would allow a lot more people to pursue such autonomy than they might realize. I don't think it's the majority of people given wealth inequality but more than people might guess.
The comparison to wild animals is incomplete and cherry picked. There are animal populations that seem to happily exist in larger communities than what PG mentions. But, as I learned from one of his better essays [1], let's focus on the main point.
The push-back that this is a privileged position is interesting. Initially I thought so but maybe that's too harsh. Controlling your expenses and keeping it to a bare minimum would allow a lot more people to pursue such autonomy than they might realize. I don't think it's the majority of people given wealth inequality but more than people might guess.
The comparison to wild animals is incomplete and cherry picked. There are animal populations that seem to happily exist in larger communities than what PG mentions. But, as I learned from one of his better essays [1], let's focus on the main point.
[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html