I think there may be some confusion in the original post about the relationship between "self-improvement" i.e. improving one's intelligence, rationality, and motivation, and "bettering oneself" i.e. getting more wealth and status. The former is what curiousepic's recursive improvement post was about, and rollerith responded as though it was about the latter. Rollerith: is this an acceptable interpretation, or an unwarranted attempt at mind-reading?