# Professional thought leaders are incentivized to mystify things Professional thought leader’s careers depend on being the “go to person” for a subject. If the subject is thoroughly demystified, people don’t need to go to them. Once something is demystified for people, they don’t actually need you. You can hope that they appreciate the demystification enough that they remember you (like Einstein) but they don’t *need* to. Many of Paul Graham’s essays have become popular lore. [[Paul Graham’s essays are powerful because they demystify things]] [[It takes bravery to demystify things]] <!-- #evergreen --> [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Professional+thought+leaders+are+incentivized+to+mystify+things) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Professional+thought+leaders+are+incentivized+to+mystify+things)