Reasons not to become famous
So I only see three reasons to be famous:<p>1. The attention and adulation is your drug. I think there&#x27;s no shortage of people who fall into this category.<p>2. To convert that fame into opportunities you wouldn&#x27;t otherwise have; and<p>3. To convert that fame into money.<p>Obviously if you&#x27;re just plain rich then (3) is moot. If you fall into (1) then money can buy you fame to a degree.<p>So that leaves (2). Wealth will give you many opportunities fame will but certainly not all. Or at least the costs to replicate that are truly ludicrous, like being a star in a Marvel movie, spending a year on the ISS, going to the Moon, that sort of thing.<p>The way I see it the downsides of fame are significant. I&#x27;ve heard tales from people who worked in media years ago that the very stars who now want the media to leave them alone and to respect their privacy would beg them for stories and coverage just a few years earlier.<p>I don&#x27;t think I&#x27;d want to be ultra-wealthy (as in a billionaire+). At that point you&#x27;re almost removed from society. I imagine you end up moving in circles with other ultra-wealthy people that are actually quite small. You risk being a target of the desperate, the criminally minded (fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, that sort of thing) and the mentally unstable.<p>And really what is the practical difference between having $20m and $2b? Sure you&#x27;ll have nicer houses and more of them. You may well have a super-yacht at that point. But who cares? I know I don&#x27;t.<p>You could say &quot;you would if you had $2b&quot; and maybe that&#x27;s true. I&#x27;m sure I&#x27;d buy a nicer place but I think I&#x27;d still want to keep a relatively low profile.