$11k vs $60 in a Day. Who's Happier?

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MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,122
1,594
126
This is the premise of Brave New World by Aldeux Huxley. Basically without some sort of strife in our lives, we will fail to flourish. Challenges drive creativity and therefore science, art, etc.

A good read if it a bit nerdy.
Aldous Huxley, the better read more intelligent version of Ayn Rand.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,136
30,086
146
I personally have a theory that people require problems in their lives in order to be "happy" and modern society lacks those problems. As a species we evolved in a world where people had to constantly worry about getting food or becoming it themselves at one point even almost going extinct. As a result natural selection led to people with brains better geared for dealing with problems becoming the default human.

Fast forward tens of thousands of years and for most of that time the same basic problems persisted, where is my food and am I going to die today. However in modern society both of those drives are mostly gone. Generally speaking we don't have any real problems anymore so we latch on to new but irrelevant for survival problems, many of which are seen in the political realm.

In a world in which there are no problems such as being stupid rich I believe the mind can do funny things without that stimulus. While the poor $15k/yr person does still have some very real problems and that actually can keep them happier in a sense.

I think a quote from The Matrix says it best.

what do you mean we don't have real problems anymore? I still can't have a pizza ordered and delivered to me while I am in transit in my Uber ride. Still waiting for the next Silicon Valley Jerk to fix that problem for me and, of course, CHANGE THE WORLD by doing it.
 

local

Golden Member
Jun 28, 2011
1,851
515
136
what do you mean we don't have real problems anymore? I still can't have a pizza ordered and delivered to me while I am in transit in my Uber ride. Still waiting for the next Silicon Valley Jerk to fix that problem for me and, of course, CHANGE THE WORLD by doing it.

Use one of those new Domino's delivery spots next to a road and have the Uber driver pass by on the way. Granted that requires you to consider Domino's to be pizza.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,024
5,905
126
Any article talking about making over $X a year is stupid because they never take location into consideration. $105k in San Francisco or Mountain View is going to be a lot different than $105k in bum fuck North Dakota.

Also, saying money doesn't buy happiness is something that poor people tell themselves to make them feel better about themself.
 
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purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,024
5,905
126
Once you make more than that you're either saving the money, or wasting it on stupid stuff that has little to no happiness return like ridiculously expensive meals or outings that are very temporary
I disagree with this 100000000000%.

For the most part I'd much rather spend money on an experience than something tangible. There's only so much tangible things I need/want, there isn't even enough time in a lifetime to experience everything I wish I could experience and places I want to go. My wife and I still talk about meals we had on our first trip out of the country in 2005.
 
Nov 29, 2006
15,695
4,204
136
Money does buy happiness. Most people dont have any so they came up with this trope to make themselves feel better :p
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
106
It’s not a one to one relationship. Lack of money can certainly make you unhappy though.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,981
8,220
126
$11k in a day because I'd work about a couple days a month.
I wonder if working a day or two a month still gets old... "This is bullshit! I've gotta go to work tomorrow. 30 day weekends suck. They need to be longer!"
 

luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,498
94
91
the mind creates problems to solve even if there are no "real" problems. that 11k per day guy is definitely not any happier than any of us.
i was suicidal when i was living alone.
flash forward 20 years later with wife and 2 kids....i rather be alone. sometimes.
 

Jimzz

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2012
4,399
190
106
As said location matters a lot in this. I live in a HCoL area and we make 200k+ a year. We are comfortable but not get he f__k out of here comfortable.
But if we lived in NC where I grew up we be better off. That could be a bigger/nicer house or similar house and more savings.

I don't have to worry about bills, my house, cars, kids college funds, etc... yet growing up that was always a worry.
 

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,485
2,363
136
Also, saying money doesn't buy happiness is something that poor people tell themselves to make them feel better about themself.
No. That's what rich people tell poor people to make them feel better about themselves and not riot out in the streets.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,481
3,601
126
I personally have a theory that people require problems in their lives in order to be "happy" and modern society lacks those problems. As a species we evolved in a world where people had to constantly worry about getting food or becoming it themselves at one point even almost going extinct. As a result natural selection led to people with brains better geared for dealing with problems becoming the default human.

Fast forward tens of thousands of years and for most of that time the same basic problems persisted, where is my food and am I going to die today. However in modern society both of those drives are mostly gone. Generally speaking we don't have any real problems anymore so we latch on to new but irrelevant for survival problems, many of which are seen in the political realm.

In a world in which there are no problems such as being stupid rich I believe the mind can do funny things without that stimulus. While the poor $15k/yr person does still have some very real problems and that actually can keep them happier in a sense.

I agree with you although I would change 'problems' to 'challenges'. Challenges give you something to strive against and feel a sense of accomplishment when you overcome or master them. If something, whether thats an experience or tangible item, is too easy to get it loses its sense of value and meaning to us. For me if a game is too easy I lose interest in playing it. There is no fun, no engagement, no mental stimulation. Why bother? I don't see why that wouldn't apply to my life as well. If everything is too easy where are those aspects? How do you get a sense of pride or accomplishment if everything is just there?

There is also the social aspect too. We are social creatures and like to have social interactions but those are fostered by common ground and common experiences. Your social circle is likely to shrink significantly if your experiences are far outside the bounds of people you would want to hang out with. Difficulties affording a second private plane are not going to sit well in conversations regarding financial difficulties if everyone else is trying to figure out how to pay for a kid's college education and fund retirement savings at the same time. So you can keep that to yourself but many personalities like to share so even bottling up your stories can be isolating
 
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Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,460
12,613
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www.anyf.ca
I disagree with this 100000000000%.

For the most part I'd much rather spend money on an experience than something tangible. There's only so much tangible things I need/want, there isn't even enough time in a lifetime to experience everything I wish I could experience and places I want to go. My wife and I still talk about meals we had on our first trip out of the country in 2005.

Those are all temporary things though. Sure if you have a constant flow of cash and can do those things all the time great, but if you make a moderate amount of money and instead save up money and buy something that lasts longer the happiness will last longer. For example I would rather buy a super nice lake front property in the bush for 100k that I can enjoy for rest of my life, than to blow it all on vacations and other experience stuff that will only last a short while. You can buy something that will then let you generate endless experiences instead of paying once for each experience. That said, a good balance is to do a little bit of both. For example one of these days I want to go sky diving, I can't really buy something to replicate that.
 
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