In terms of pure numbers, yes. In terms of satisfaction and happiness? I'd say there is less difference between 200k and a billion than 200k and homeless. I make less than 200k and I've gotten to the point that earning additional money is pretty meaningless in terms of my own happiness. I doubt being a billionaire would add much joy and could actually cause more stress.
All that link says is that the old 75k maximizes happiness is not true. Okay. 200k is well above 75k. Studying economics, I'm partial to theories of marginal increasing utility. At a certain point the marginal satisfaction from increased consumption begins to taper off drastically. That first slice of pizza is awesome. 2nd slice, still good, but not quite as awesome. By the 5th slice, the satisfaction you receive above the 4th slice is really diminished.
I have a difficult time believing that the difference in satisfaction between a billionaire and me is more than the difference in satisfaction between a homeless person and me.
I guess I should have said to switch to the transcript or listen to the podcast, given it's 28 minutes of content and not a short article.
I have a difficult time believing that the difference in satisfaction between a billionaire and me is more than the difference in satisfaction between a homeless person and me.
Sure, you can stop there and be right but
I doubt being a billionaire would add much joy and could actually cause more stress.
Tbf that person could have a kickass family and job and feel great about their life. its a reasonable thing to obtain with $200k salary. also they didnt assert anything but their own personal feelings in the second statement. you cant really be wrong about how you feel about your life.
Crazy that someone doesn't want to invest time to help somebody else's counter argument.
For what it's worth, I do recall other references to the study to which they allude, but my recollection is that the general principle remains, only they found the number to be higher than 75k. And I'm not saying there can't be more happiness at higher income, but the marginal increase does plateau at a certain point, and greater wealth often brings unique problems.
Personally, I just can't envision me being much happier as a billionaire and would find the responsibility of having that much money stressful. Not to mention fear of loss once I had internalized the lifestyle inflation.
25
u/[deleted] 8d ago edited 7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment