@mayintoronto Maybe. It's an empirical question, perhaps. I have known lots of people who enjoy understanding systems just so they can manipulate systems. That sounds bad, but what I mean is someone loving the fact that they know how computer hardware works, or how mathematics functions, or how hedge funds and stock options function. I've known (and known of) many people who just want to do that stuff and they either don't care about using the knowledge to improve other people's lives in general, or sometimes they care only about improving their own lives, often through maximizing their financial status. I've also known plenty of people who do seem to want to use their knowledge to help others. There might be an even larger third category: people who tell themselves they'll use their knowledge to help others but never really do, or only do that if there's no cost to them.

I guess my experience doesn't lead me to believe that this kind of understanding or skill necessarily leads to prosocial motivations.