Leave a comment

Comments 14

randomdreams January 16 2016, 02:55:25 UTC
The D-K analysis is interesting, but the money-can't-buy-happiness one is arguably even more interesting.

Reply

randomdreams January 16 2016, 02:56:27 UTC
I'll go further and say that I've always suspected the people who say 'money can't buy happiness' say it because they believe in a just universe and the idea that someone, through luck, gets a better life, isn't one that fits into a just universe theory.

Reply

andrewducker January 16 2016, 09:54:05 UTC
There's certainly a tailing off with more money - hence the graph being log scale for money.

But yeah, I don't think there's ever a point where it doesn't increase happiness, because money is utility.

Reply

naath January 18 2016, 13:33:31 UTC
There are kinds of happiness that money can't buy; and tragedies you can't make go away with money. But there are a lot more situations in which money can be applied to increase happiness.

No amount of money can bring back the dead, or cure depression (well, eventually enough money might bring about a cure for depression, maybe).

Reply


kalimac January 16 2016, 04:42:52 UTC
I've had enough money so that I didn't need to worry about money, and at other times I've not had enough money so that I didn't need to worry about money. It's striking how much more peaceful and at ease - in other words, happy - my life has been in the former situation.

The challenge in the classical mashup wasn't recognizing the tunes so much as following the counterpoint. That's really impressive, and I especially liked the moment when it set the Imperial March from Star Wars against Chopin's Funeral March and Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave.

Reply

pashazade January 16 2016, 14:26:23 UTC
Yes. I suspect that people who say "money doesn't buy happiness" have never suffered from a serious lack of money, certainly not to the point where it dominates almost every waking thought and stops you sleeping.

Reply

andrewducker January 16 2016, 16:46:48 UTC
I think that most people mean "Money can't buy you happiness once you're above the poverty line". i.e. it's important to have enough to survive on, but above that point you need more than that.

Reply


cartesiandaemon January 16 2016, 09:54:24 UTC
This recent xkcd is a pretty good summary of my job (if you replace "porn" with "money")

Yes, I understand turning "porn" into "money" is nearly all internet jobs :)

Reply

andrewducker January 16 2016, 10:07:02 UTC
Hah!

Reply

skington January 17 2016, 14:28:23 UTC
Our support people work out of an office in Utah, and the only reason you'd live in Utah is if you're an outdoorsy person and/or you're from there and you haven't moved away, and in the latter case you're probably a Mormon.

We're a hosting company. Our dedicated server business was for many years mostly porn. We tried not to tell the Mormons.

Reply


gwendysmile January 16 2016, 12:32:53 UTC
cool, I have a tag! :)

Reply

andrewducker January 16 2016, 12:33:46 UTC
Since 2013, apparently :-)

Reply


cmcmck January 16 2016, 20:27:27 UTC
Yes, we're being let down and that's because we're the easiest group to throw off the sledge (small and vulnerable) every time changes get made.

I've seen it so often in the past forty odd years.

We're now pretty much the very last group it's okay to hate.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up