Hacker Cinema
The Sunset Limited
2011 · Film · 91 min
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones
A deeply religious black ex-con thwarts the suicide attempt of an asocial white college professor who tries to throw himself in front of an oncoming subway train, 'The Sunset Limited.' As the one attempts to connect on a rational, spiritual and emotional level, the other remains steadfast in his hard-earned despair. Locked in a philosophical debate, both passionately defend their personal credos and try to convert the other.
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4 comments on Hacker News
The closest thing to this vague description I can think of is The Sunset Limited[0]. Though that doesn't deal with not being able to contribute, or maybe it does in the sense that it's seen but unchanging. Another thought is that of Mozart's contemporary Salieri who could recognize greatness, but not produce it (according to the movie anyway).
Bleak views. A pragmatic measure could be to reduce suffering experienced in total, even if not one's own.
[0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510938/
I’ve read Blood Meridian and then went back to The Orchard Keeper. Going to work forward in rough chronological order of his published dates. Didn’t know about The Sunset Limited, will have to check out both the screenplay and the film.
> And if you believe Richard Hanania, today the high IQ elites are more miserable than everybody else (yes, the elites are smarter than average—but often smart people use their intelligence to raise their own status rather than seek the truth).
If an extremely high IQ can't be applied effectively, then I'd tend to believe that some could be a "prisoner of their IQ" somewhat like Cassandra, to know and not be able to effect change. E.g. watch "The Sunset Limited"[0].
[0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510938
I don't know if you've seen it, but there's a movie with a similar concept titled Sunset Limited, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. I found it captivating as well.