It isn't a trick question.
The answer is an obvious...
No!
But hold on a minute.
What brought you to that conclusion? Like most people, you have been conditioned and you answered intuitively on what you know, using your automatic system 1 habitual thought process, without actually considering all the factors involved. You are answering based on peer and cultural learning, as you believe you should answer, without thinking about all the other alternative variables and conditions that never came to your mind. You believe your answer is right, because it feels right to you. It feels like the ethical answer too, the one where happiness isn't dependent on how much money is in the pocket.
Your feelings are wrong.
This isn't to say that one can't be happy without money, but the odds get stacked against happiness, because without money in the world in which we live, life becomes harder. Not harder because more value is being accomplished through the actions performed, but harder at the survival level, at the core, at the points that matter to us - like paying the heating bill so our children aren't cold, or buying food they don't go to bed hungry. Harder because the fear of an unexpected expense means being unable to provide.
Poor people are not as smart.
What a disgusting thing to write.
But it is true.
“Being poor, for example, reduces a person’s cognitive capacity more than going one full night without sleep. It is not that the poor have less bandwidth as individuals. Rather, it is that the experience of poverty reduces anyone’s bandwidth.”
― Sendhil Mullainathan, Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
Poor people are worse parents.
What a disgusting thing to write.
But it is true.
“One broad theme emerges from decades of this research: the poor are worse parents. They are harsher with their kids, they are less consistent, more disconnected, and thus appear less loving. They are more likely to take out their own anger on the child; one day they will admonish the child for one thing and the next day they will admonish her for the opposite;”
― Sendhil Mullainathan, Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
These are not necessarily true for every individual, but the likelihood increases that cognitive ability is negatively affected and a parent is under stresses that get carried through to interactions with a child. And it is the likelihood that we have to consider, because just like the fools who say "money doesn't buy happiness", they haven't considered that we are humans, and humans are not rational creatures, they are animals that misunderstand, conflate, confuse and suffer circumstance, whether the conditions are real or imagined.
“The poor have their own planes in the air. They are juggling rent, loans, late bills, and counting days till the next paycheck. Their bandwidth is used up in managing scarcity.”
― Sendhil Mullainathan, Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
Cut me some slack!
“Here we see that slack provides a hidden efficiency. It gives us room to maneuver, to reshuffle when we err. Slack gives us room to fail.”
― Sendhil Mullainathan, Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
Ever lived through a life and death experience that depended entirely on you succeeding? If you have and you are reading this, well done, you made it. However, do you want to live every moment like that, where you feel that if you put a foot wrong, say an incorrect word, if you fail - you will lose everything that is dear to you?
Unlikely.
Yet, this is what a scarcity mindset brings to the table. A life of living on the edge. Like a racecar driver pushing to the limits, at every waking moment, through every corner of life, never being able to take the foot off the peddle, tap the brake, or miss the apex. Any slip, means to crash. And if you have some, your loved ones are in the back of the car. Your failure, is worn by them too.
Money might not make us happy, but it is also good to consider what kinds of things make us sad. The most important thing might be our relationship with others or our experiences, but what happens to our relationships and experiences when we are unable to provide enough money to cover needs? What happens if I can't afford to get winter clothing for my daughter? What happens if my experiences in life are dominated by my attempt to survive, to provide, but always failing?
Am I happy?
In the world in which we operate, money scarcity has physical implications on our opportunity and the opportunity of those we are responsible for. We can try our hardest to put on a brave face for those we love, but watching them suffer a lack of opportunity due to our inability to provide, probably doesn't fill most people with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Nor does attempting with all energy available to provide for them and still failing.
Happiness is a state of mind.
And therefore, like any state, requires the right conditions. Those conditions can vary from person to person, but there is a lot of overlap amongst humans, and not having enough is one of those influencing factors that reduces the chance of happiness. People seem to believe that the mind is something that can just be changed, but it is not the case. Changing the mind in unfavorable conditions is going to take willpower, and willpower is another scarce resource. The more tired we become, the less of it we have. And, being poor is tiring.
It is no wonder that the poor are more likely to be overweight, isn't it?
It might not be about the price of healthy food at all, but rather the lack of willpower at the end of the day to say no to the junk food that tastes so good, even though there is nothing of value in it. Yet, we blame fat people for their bad choices, when it might not be a choice at all, because at the time they made the decision, they didn't have the mental capacity, the mental bandwidth, to actually choose. Instead, they used their system one brain, their fast thinking, inaccurate brain, to make a judgement for them and that process is all about speed, and making the easiest decision possible. The prioritization for food isn't for healthy, it is for fast and satisfying now - not in a day, month or ten years from now.
Scarcity doesn't just not provide the slack for errors, it also doesn't provide the space to prepare for the future. So, daily decisions, made on autopilot or under cognitive load or physical duress, keep making decisions that will leave a person worse off in the future, with a degraded body, self-esteem, mind, and still struggling financially, still unable to make those ends meet, still stressed. The conditions have gotten worse, making happiness even more likely, as the knees ache, but the work to survive goes on.
Surviving life, isn't a purposeful life.
Surviving might be at our animalistic core, but our higher cognitive ability means that we are looking for secondary factors to satisfy us. But, living in monetary scarcity means that we have to compromise heavily on those greater goals in order to satisfy our base needs. And, watching others we care about impacted negatively is also going to impact on us negatively. It might be possible for an individual to be happy watching a loved one starve, or die of illness due to unavailability of healthcare, but from the outside looking in, what would you think of that person?
You know what is interesting?
Happiness is in reflection.
You can't actually be happy in the moment, it is only in reflection of the moment that happiness can be achieved, because it takes being being aware that the conditions for happiness have been met. But if there is no moment to reflect, or when there are moments of space to think at all, thoughts are with the upcoming cost of school books, or repairing the washing machine again - with necessities - then happiness gets pushed out of mind. And it is even more out of mind, because those "valuable experiences" aren't the type that evoke happiness anyway.
So, can money make you happy?
No.
But it can buy the conditions to facilitate the experiences and relationships that can lead to happiness. It buys the space in the day, the room to think, the chance to try and fail. It takes care of the medical expenses, it puts food on the table, and shirts on backs. It is ridiculous to me when people so quickly and adamantly say that money doesn't buy happiness, and in the next breath, talk about how well they understand human needs. They are talking about their ideals, not the realities of human nature and experience. They talk of being empathetic, yet seem to spend no time actually considering the needs and wants of others at all.
They are naïve.
Money can improve the conditions for happiness, but it suffers from diminishing returns. The question isn't whether money can buy happiness, but rather, how much money is required to buy it. The amount will change from person to person, but several studies have looked at this and the answer seems to be consistently,
More than most people have.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Note: This book is now on my "to read" list.
― Sendhil Mullainathan, Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Money gives you a state of peace. In such a state, it is better to think about happiness. It is easier to think about happiness when there is no huge loan on the house in which the family lives.
A loan on the house is one thing - no food on the table is another.
That state of peace, is mental and emotional bandwidth. Hard to achieve when all the pressures of life are pressing at once.
I think it definitely can facilitate the conditions for more happiness and I think it depends on the individual ad how the money was earned. If you won the lottery you may or may not be in a worse off position because it was too easy and the saying easy come easy go could make thigs worse. I would rather not experience true wealth if I was stupid enough to blow it which I wouldn't, but many do.
I think if you have earned it via a business or a sound investment then you are more likely to enjoy it far more because you know how it was created and have the tools to create more. These types of people tend to be far more confident and happier people from those who I know who are in that position. It would also depend on the individual as when is it enough and I think just being comfortable not worrying about bills and stress free is what I would consider a happy state.
I think so too. When we are part of creating something, we value it more.
Money may not directly make me happy, but wealth would alleviate a lot of pain and stress, which is almost the same thing. All I want is modest comfort, not ostentatious luxury.
A good life doesn't need helicopters and Ferraris - but it does need some baseline of comfort.
Yeah, there's a ton of research that's been done on this.
Money can't make you happy but not having enough money creates an incredible amount of stress. Once you have enough money (I think generally around $110,000 a year but obviously changes on location) to meet your needs then having more money doesn't make you happier. Mo money mo problems and all that.
It's just another excellent argument for taxing billionaires at higher rates, we're doing it for their happiness.
I don't think taxing billionaires as individuals really helps that much.. What I think would help is making the taxes on non-value adding activity, like passive investment into derivative markets at least on par with the taxes on personal income. There shouldn't be more incentive in doing nothing, than doing something.
Honestly, I'd just be happy with Billionaires paying the same tax rates as the rest of us... so closing up taxation loopholes like the passive derivative market investments and bank loans on stock, etc. People shouldn't have extra options just because they're more wealthy - equal opportunity tax avoidance, haha.
Companies should pay the same too. Make it all flat.
That would make it an absolutely massive improvement from the current situation.
I actually think money can make me happy at this point. You're right about poverty and not being able to provide cover in times of stress; It does something to you. I certainly have experienced it first hand.
Just seeing excerpts from the book you're referencing seems a bit harsh, but then again, so is the true face of reality. Think I'll pencil it down on my 'To-read' list.
It does seem harsh, doesn't it? But there is supposedly data to back it up. We are all limited, but under stress, we become more so.
Dam it, this is very hard to me, all people told the money do not buy the happiness bit for me the money will bought my time and pay my food, and if I do not have to worry about money I will uses my free time for going to go to the forest and enjoy my free time without nothing more than enjoy making me happiness.
Thanks for this jewel I enjoy this.
A lot of times when I have been working hard i have plans to do but when you have been tiring your brain feels bad and your plans could postpone one day two days.
For this reason we think people poor have been laziness but it could be for the reason their brain have been busy and do not have time to do more.
@abelytiti te estoy citando aquí, quiero que leas este maldito artículo 4 veces, está en inglés pero ponle el traductor y lo lees ok.
Léelo 4 veces y entenderás muchas cosas de la vida tuya, de tu familia y de tu amado padre, no fue su culpa, solo el maldito destino que nos arrastra.
Sé que vendrás en unos meses no sé cuándo pero cuando vengas ven a leer esto, es toda una joya de enseñanza aquí, que te cambiará la vida.
No lo olvides.
I don't think the poor are lazy at all - but I do think that many of us are working on the wrong things, putting energy into the wrong areas, and applying the wrong knowledge. We can all learn ways to improve our own behaviors.
One of the population of students that my wife works with are kids that are considered "at risk". Qualifying for free or reduced lunch automatically puts you on that list.
I was watching something about school lunches on I think John Oliver, and a lot of kids are going to school hungry and that is the only meal they might get that day. Not a place to save money in my opinion.
All of our students get free breakfast and lunch. It's part of the federal program whether they qualify for free and reduced or not.
I like to think of it that different way - if money can’t buy happiness then what makes you sad? List some things out - can money prevent you from being sad about those things? That’s a decent alternative assessment.
I think often we conflate money with buying foolish things. It’s not always having money to buy silly things but being able to not have to worry about getting the extra order of food when you are out for a meal. It’s a sense of calm in a way and I think that’s what a lot of people don’t realize due to social conditioning. It’s pretty annoying stuff really. What’s more annoying is how effective they are at manipulating!
I prefer this too. "Do what makes you happy" becomes, Don't do what makes you sad. Difficult doesn't mean it will make a person sad, but it likely doesn't make them that happy in the moment either.
All this information at our fingertips from some very smart people - most of us spend our time eating trash.
Coincidentally I have been reflecting on this as well, due to stuff in my personal life. For me I used to have the mindset that money can't buy happiness and it's all in the mind etc. But over the years, I realised life isn't always black or white.
So now, I think my mindset has slightly changed, and this statement probably summarised it well. Having a reasonable amount of money does allow me to not worry about the basic necessities in life, and when emergencies happens and require an one off expense, be it a medical bill or just needing to get a new washing machine to replace a faulty one, I know I am going to be okay.
It is the reason that a lot of people also become more conservative with age - experience.
And this is a luxury many don't have. It is a hard life.
I don't think money only itself can make us happy, but it is obvious that money has a big role in our life, including making us happy.
Absence of money can make us sad :)
I can't agree more with your thoughts. Our internal moral system ends up limiting us and leading us to the quick, unthinking response that money doesn't bring happiness, but it's certainly a response from someone who has the comfort of having some money so they don't have to think about what they're going to put on the table for dinner that day, and how they're going to pay the electricity and gas bills to keep the house warm, or even pay for petrol to get to work. Of course, as you say, it is possible to make a living with little money, but it reduces the possibilities of choice, and the slack we have in terms of time and life options. A huge majority survive on much less than what we consider essential.
Interestingly, I wrote a much more humble post on the subject a few days ago.
https://peakd.com/hive-126152/@xrayman/whats-enough-o-que-e-suficiente-en-pt
And then, the same person in the next breath might be complaining about not having enough money.
And when hungry, tired, worried - do we perform at our potential?
Never. Just like you told, the struggle is real. The better job opportunities come with far more better life conditions and comfort
Well said that happiness is a state of mind. Money brings comfort, it brings peace of mind to not have to worry about a thousands things, so while not in the pure form, money can bring an instance of happiness.
Many seem to believe that you can just change your mind and be happy, but how much ignorance of suffering does that require?
What an amazing text! I’d love to add something, but anything I say wouldn’t do justice to the reflection you shared. But, risking a comment, it’s undeniable that money allows for a better life and eases many burdens. Can it buy happiness? Maybe not. But ask a family man struggling to make ends meet if he wouldn’t be glad to have the money to support his loved ones.
And how he feels if he would knowingly denied money.
Yeah, You find happiness when there’s money for survival need$ and a little extra for the raining days
It doesn't take much
I think that both Tyrion Lannister and House were quite happy while using whores. And getting whores costs money...Unless you are Pod.
Was he actually happy though?
Perhaps just less sad.
Light shines on a broad spectrum, more than our eyes can see. I'd have to read scarcity to complete my thought, but considering the quotes here I would say that Sendhil is missing part of the wavelength that being poor gives a person. Growing up poor I learned what it meant to be in need. I developed an appreciation for what I had and an ingenuity to use it wisely. Some of my friends who inherited money did not have that opportunity at a young age. To be short, happiness cannot be gauged by money, but it sure comes in handy when a person needs to eat.
So many if my artist friends are just rich kids who had the opportunity to fail up and get their work in front of other rich consumers. It is crazy. I see plenty of people buying happiness ont he day when I;m out at the club. Blowing all that happiness in one big night out. A happiness overload, like that is going to cure them. All the dopamine, all at once!
But my mom would always tell me money doesn't buy happiness, but it will buy you options and give you choices. Choices will be nice to have as the world goes to hell!