Comment by hcta
1 day ago
Trying to show off how smart one is is probably part of the motivation behind many interesting comments posted on here, and more generally, a big motivation behind a huge number of the useful things people do. Doing it in a non-obvious way requires additional ingenuity. The cumulative effect of people trying to show off how smart they are has undoubtedly greatly accelerated the development of our species.
For better or worse, it was probably the main driver. Since time immemorial, people have been competing for mates and resources in a social hierarchy.
I can almost guarantee that the number of people who have made substantive scientific contributions to society were far more interested in their chosen object of study than they were with their perceived intelligence. I can think of a few, perhaps, but that number is slim.