Let me first say that this was the first time I have read anything about Brock Pierce. Sure I have heard his name a few times but never really cared enough to look into it.
.... So, as I was reading the article from the rollingstone link you gave and I was reminded of somthing that my father used to say a lot:
'Simple living and high thinking'
I am not really sure where this quite comes from or why I haven't heard my father say this for sometime now. But I can see that the man above seems to embody that quote in real life.
RE: Brock Pierce: The Hippie King of Cryptocurrency – Rolling Stone