Charlie Munger On The Childhood Realization That Helped Make Him A Billionaire: 'Some Of The Adults Around Me Were Nuts' Munger’s Lifelong Quest To Diagnose Stupidity Speaking at the Daily Journal Corp. annual meeting in 2019, the then– Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK ) (NYSE: BRK ) vice chairman told shareholders that as a boy, "I could see some of the adults around me were nuts — yet they were very talented. I could see how much irrationality there was in very talented people. " Munger said that realization pushed him to "seek out the patterns" behind such behavior and try to understand why it happened, a process he jokingly described as "diagnosing stupidity. " "Who is not helped by an early start in a promising activity. And what activity could be more promising than diagnosing stupidity. Simple Rules And Cheerfulness Counter Irrational Thinking In a separate 2019 interview with CNBC's Becky Quick, Munger said he decided around age 7 to avoid envy, resentment and self-pity after...