Disagree on 2. I think with high pay comes higher requirement to be dedicated. I am sure they exist like all things but most of the well payed law and medical roles all work long hours and require continued education. The jobs that don’t have this, often do not have the same level of comp.
My dedication is mostly weaponized autism not love, though I figure plenty of us can't tell the difference.
Software engineering is generally extremely well compensated for the amount of work. I have found in my career that the more demanding the role, the better compensation. Often enough that it was easy to pick out the roles that did not have adequate comp.
I think it’s also just as easy to find a lower comp role that is not demanding. That’s all I meant.