[2012-Feb-22] The Shirt of a Happy Man

[Ninja Kraken]

It's called Hedonic Adaptation.
Basically, when someone is out of poverty (i.e. they have enough food, reasonable though unlavish housing, etc.) getting more money only makes you happy for a short burst, and then you go right back to your previous state. Additionally, you now have more things to occupy your time and make you worry about losing them.

If you doubt this, go hang out with some people who are lower class (but not impoverished) and some people who are rich.
The rich people are almost invariably freaking out about their penny pinching, despite having so much money that they would never notice the $300 they're obsessing about.

[Dindong]

Bitcoin will solve all of our money woes. I've been reading a lot about bitcoin and it seems to me like it's the future of money. You see in the past money was tied to gold but for some reason that didn't work but now bitcoin is here.

Everything will be better when we are all using bitcoin. I've read the whole website, so I understand all about it. Let's all just

just move to bitcoin. so safe and warm, like dying of hyperthermia.

[Torg]

If you doubt this, go hang out with some people who are lower class (but not impoverished) and some people who are rich.
The rich people are almost invariably freaking out about their penny pinching, despite having so much money that they would never notice the $300 they're obsessing about.

So rich people manage their finances better than poor people?

[Apocalyptus]

Somehow I don't think that was the intention.

[Dr. T]

There are plenty of studies that show wealth (above a certain minimum amount) is not correlated with happiness.

I am very dubious about the validity of these studies. They typically ignore the fact that wanting to have more money is correlated with having more money. Would rich people that are only moderately happy still be happy with a normal income? Or do they have a personality structure, which requires that they are at the top of the heap?

[GUTCHUCKER]

Hurrrrrrrrrr
Durrrrrrrrrrr
Serious business

[Dindong]

I have never met a rich person. Or maybe I have. Maybe that guy with the deformed face and the carrier bags who leered at me as I was walking home from Sainsburys with my soup ingredients was rich but hiding it.

He scared me though. The rich pay a lot of money to be infected with facial diseases and then put in an area where they can scare middle class teens.

[GUTCHUCKER]

Or to have deadly neurotoxin injected into their faces to clear their wrinkes. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea?
Oh right, someone who wanted lots and lots of money.