What is Digg?263 Comments
- Pssdoff, on 10/22/2007, -7/+126Money does buy happiness, it just doesn't guarantee it. Money will give you access to limitless sources of happiness. If you are still miserable even after that, then clearly you should give your excess wealth to me.
- Error601, on 10/22/2007, -8/+77*****. Having to worry about if you can pay the rent puts a big minus on being happy. Being stuck at home because you don't have the cash to travel and see new things gets old.
- theblooms, on 10/30/2007, -1/+58If money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it!
- Leo21k, on 10/20/2007, -8/+50I find saving my money for things I really want and looking forward to owning them in the future makes me happier then when I actually have the stuff in my hands. I wish i was rich but part of me is glad I'm not because if I was able to do anything I wanted when I wanted I'd likely become bored with life. After I've done everything I've ever wanted to do, purchased all the stuff I've ever wanted, what's left? I'd no longer have anything to look forward to or be happy about working towards.
It's like using God mode in a video game. Fun at first but after a while it gets boring and you dont even want to play the game at all anymore. - b8man99, on 10/22/2007, -4/+45Money does buy you happiness. You just have to know where to shop.
- Eivo, on 10/22/2007, -5/+45"Money doesn't buy happiness" was coined by the rich to keep poor people from killing them and taking their *****.
- Nougat, on 10/22/2007, -4/+41Money doesn't buy happiness, but it buys the absence of despair, which is a prerequisite to happiness.
- GREEDOnvrFIRED, on 10/22/2007, -1/+36This article tells me to value health over money. But I cannot afford health-care.
- jeremyduffy, on 10/22/2007, -4/+32This is easy. Money doesn't GUARANTEE happiness, but it sure makes it easier. The real reason most people with lots of money aren't happy is because they have no freaking clue what to do with it. And I guarantee, NOT having money (i.e., not having enough money) is guaranteed to make you UN-happy.
- Crystallio, on 10/22/2007, -0/+23Money might not be able to buy you happiness, but it does allow for an extavagant depression.
- LokitheComplex, on 10/19/2007, -1/+23Money won't make you happy
but poverty will make you sad.
So my Deathmonkey tells me. - Jist, on 10/20/2007, -0/+21Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does by a wave runner. Have you ever seen a sad person on a wave runner? I didn't think so.
- SavageBlackCat, on 10/22/2007, -4/+24Odd - I don't see any hot chicks with broke motherf*ckers.
- NeoSporin, on 10/19/2007, -0/+20There is a difference between walking into a store with a hard-earned $500 and walking in with $32,000,000. The small things aren't as special to you as they used to be.
But what do I know, I make $8 an hour! - FriskDown, on 10/22/2007, -10/+28Thanks, but we don't need a sermon.
- orangesoda, on 10/22/2007, -4/+20I guess it all depends on what makes you happy. Some people live a perfectly happy life with very little money
- joshmoney, on 10/22/2007, -3/+18So does ignorance.
- staplez, on 10/20/2007, -0/+12I think money straight up buys happiness. I think that's what this article totally missed. The problem is each additional level of happiness becomes exponentially more expensive. An easy way to see this is if you're at a level 1 amount of happiness, to get to 2 might only be the difference of having steak over peanut butter. This is a $20 issue. Now if I want to go from a level 6 to 7 it's the difference between a corvette and a bugatti veyron this is a 1.2 million dollar difference give or take the cost of the porsche which in comparison to the veyron is like pennies. Which is my point. Each additional rung of happiness is exponentially more expensive and harder to get to. Once you get past the 5.8 rung, clearly we're talking about billions/trillions of dollars to get you to the next rung. People just don't get that rich.
- itsme7g, on 10/19/2007, -1/+12How about this. NOTHING makes you happy for the long term. You have to do an active part in getting and staying there. I have been a pretty upbeat guy even when I was doing the "worst" jobs in my life. Now I have what I would call a dream job, I make enough money to have saved quite a bit over the last decade, and you know what I am still happy.
I have always noticed the people who just can't get themselves to be or stay happy, and they have been at every job or social setting (heck they pay to come play indoor soccer and complain) throughout my life.
Bobby Mcferrin was right. - ramiro, on 10/19/2007, -7/+18"Americans who earn $50,000 per year are much happier than those who earn $10,000 per year," writes Gilbert, "but Americans who earn $5 million per year are not much happier than those who earn $100,000 per year."
The article does not consider the future happiness. A person who earns more than $50k/yr and saves it half of it, will probably live a happier retirement than a guy who spends all the $100k he earns. - 5aculu5, on 10/19/2007, -6/+16
To crush your enemies. To see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of the women. - jeremyduffy, on 10/19/2007, -1/+11Or... I could know all about Christianity, have studied it for years, be surrounded by friends and family who are/were Christians, and still think that it's nothing more than a Jewish cult. And I realize that it gives you freedom and peace, but not truth. Blind faith is like that.
- inactive, on 10/20/2007, -3/+12Money buys choices. If you are an idiot then you will make stupid choices with that money and therefor be unhappy. However if an intelligent person has tons of money he will make good choices and be very happy. That is why almost everyone that wins the lottery ends up being unhappy, because they are average people with little more intelligence than to be able to bust tables. However the people intelligent enough to make money on their own are happy and those are the people we don't hear about.
- VinceNoir, on 10/19/2007, -1/+10And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the problem with the entire human race: "***** what people around me think". I could be wrong. I could be barking up the wrong tree here. Perhaps MerryMortician meant, "Do the right thing and screw what people around you think". But I doubt it. Based on my interaction with people on line and in real life post 1990s, it seems that a lot of people have an attitude that is based on the idea that they are the most important people in the world. Examples:
1. ***** driving in a 55 MPH zone at 60, 65, 70 or higher. He thinks to himself, "55 MPH is stupid in this area! This is just a revenue generating scam perpetrated by the municipality. ***** what people around me think! I'm going to drive whatever speed I deem reasonable because I'm right"! Never mind that the speed limit may be perfectly reasonable for the area 80% of the time. Never mind that the speed limit may have been set based on traffic surveys that monitored the amount of traffic and took into account the average skill of an average driver. Never mind the fact that we all need to make some sacrifices to make the world work. So he's two to five minutes later arriving to his destination. If it was that damn important to get there at a certain time, then leave earlier.
2. The kids crossing a busy city crosswalk when the "don't walk" light was on at high noon that I saw the other day. The traffic was bumper to bumper. The cars had the right of way because their light was green. The kids walk in front of a MOVING car which then has to brake quickly not to hit them. They start yelling and screaming at the car telling the guy he's an ***** and need to learn to drive. I flip the kids off and tell them, "The light says DON'T WALK you little *****". They group looks at me and one of the girls bobs her head saying, "EXCUSE YOU mother *****? What did you just say"? I say again that the sign says don't walk. The gang moves along flipping me off and one of them says, "I don't give a ***** what you think bitch"! Never mind the fact that when the light says "don't walk" you shouldn't be crossing that intersection. Never mind the fact that this system is set up to protect pedestrians from being hit by cars that they were too busy doing something else to notice.
3. What about the people who fight over who took the last parking spot in a lot. Get a sense of proportion jackasses! It's just a ***** parking spot and if it's the holiday season, you're not exactly promoting the spirit of goodwill by pummeling each other senseless over it. (This is a yearly occurrence multiple times during the holiday season in my neck of the woods) But the general sentiment is still apparently, "***** what people around me think".
Just a few examples of that way of approaching life and just how fruitful it can be. If that's what MerryMortician meant, then I strongly disagree. Life isn't about who is the strongest, the fastest, the biggest, the richest or any other adjective that implies power. We're all here to work together and make the world a fair and just place. If you can't get with the program, then shuffle off the coil dude. - dasdef, on 10/19/2007, -6/+15thankfully for an athiest, hell doesnt exist. so suck on that!!
- Darkhacker, on 10/19/2007, -0/+9No, happier, not happy. Having money makes you happier because you are less worried about being able to buy the things you need, but if you still lack proper social interactions then you are going to be miserable. I speak from personal experience. I have plenty of money but because of my poor mental health, no friends. I drown myself in antidepressants everyday only to be so-so. Without meds, I would have been dead a long time ago. No amount of money in the world could buy what I want to be happy; the love of someone whom I love in return.
- hankyone, on 10/19/2007, -2/+11Never saw anyone celebrating their poorness
- john570, on 10/19/2007, -9/+17Why is it whenever God is mentioned here on Digg the person gets buried? Show some tolerance. If a person wants to believe in God then that is their choice. Michael's comment was totally relevant to the article from his perspective and yet you digg him down. At least keep an open mind. Oh and Friskdown, since when is a comment a sermon?
- myotive, on 10/19/2007, -1/+9"Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll to to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity.
But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money! "
-George Carlin - plbland, on 10/19/2007, -0/+7I love you man.
- portis, on 10/19/2007, -8/+15Actually, those who say that money doesn't buy them happiness do not have enough money to begin with.
- mcraigw, on 10/19/2007, -0/+7That's a good point, and basically what the article said.
From the article: "concluded that wealth increases human happiness when it lifts people out of abject poverty and into the middle class but that it does little to increase happiness thereafter."
I'm solidly in the middle class, and according to the article money won't buy me happiness, but I'd really like to find out for myself... - inactive, on 10/19/2007, -2/+9Looks like you live for material things, like I'm saving for that video game because it's going to make me happier. Maybe you should get a girlfriend, learn an instrument, or a sport or something, and eventually start a family or something. Money is important but only because it makes life easier and more pleasant while you focus on what is really important.
- manicallday, on 10/19/2007, -0/+7I'd rather roll with this study.
"Money Buys Happiness"
By ARTHUR C. BROOKS
WSJ, December 8, 2005; Page A16
"During the holidays, we will give thanks for the important things in our lives. For most people, money is not one of these things -- at least this is what we would like others to think. We are after all constantly reminding each other that 'money doesn't buy happiness.'
"Economists aren't so sure. They note that people with a lot of money tend to express a higher subjective happiness than people with very little. According data from surveys by the National Opinion Research Center, for example, people in the top fifth of income earners are about 50% more likely to say they are 'very happy' than people in the bottom fifth, and only about half as likely to say they are 'not too happy.'
"There is, however, generally very little change in the average level of happiness in populations getting richer over the years. For instance, the percentage of the U.S. population saying it was 'very happy' in 1972 was exactly the same as it was in 2002: 30.3%. Social critics of 'consumerism' explain this by claiming that what makes rich people happy is not money per se, but rather the fact that they have more of it than others -- so if everybody gets richer, happiness remains unchanged. The critics go on to say that income differences lead to unwholesome feelings of superiority, so taxes can improve our moral fiber simply by bringing us closer to the same income level.
"Perhaps you're unconvinced. In fact there is another explanation for unchanging happiness levels over time which is rather less supportive of income redistribution. As incomes rise, so generally do levels of government revenues and spending, and there is evidence that these forces work against personal income on the overall level of happiness. For example, a $1,000 increase in per capita income is associated with a one-point decrease in the percentage of Americans saying they are 'not too happy.' At the same time, a $1,000 increase in government revenues per capita is associated with a two-point rise in the percentage of Americans saying they are not too happy. In other words, not only can money buy happiness, but it may be that the government can tax it away as well.
"But beyond earning, taxing and spending, there is an even clearer link between money and happiness: charity. The evidence is unambiguous that donating money (and time) is one of the best ways to buy happiness. People who donate to charity are 40% more likely to say they are 'very happy' than non-donors. Psychologists have even tested whether charity makes people happy using randomized, controlled experiments -- the same procedure used for testing pharmaceuticals, except that, instead of administering a drug to one group and a placebo to the other, researchers randomly assign one group to act charitably toward another. The results are clear: Givers of charity earn substantial mental and physical health rewards, even more than do the recipients of charity -- empirical evidence that it is indeed more blessed to give than to receive.
"The bottom line is that the old axiom about money and happiness, properly understood, is quite wrong. So if you are so fortunate, enjoy the blessings of your abundance this holiday season -- and be sure to buy yourself a little extra joy via your favorite charity - m00dy, on 10/19/2007, -4/+10Look at it this way, having excess money is just like using cheat codes in video games. The game starts being boring after you get unlimited ammo and infinite life.
- hellotyler, on 10/19/2007, -9/+15This article is a lie.
- Error601, on 10/19/2007, -3/+9I don't think it's so much what you spend but what you must spend. Once you get your mandatory outflow to below 40% of you income, you're at a point where you can start building up a cushion. Once you have a good bit saved away, concerns about unexpected expenses go away.
- Punisher2K, on 10/19/2007, -0/+5I'd rather be rich and sad then poor and sad.
- NeoSporin, on 10/19/2007, -2/+7As in two woman, and at the same time a man?
- triplescoop, on 10/19/2007, -4/+9Yeah and chunky girls have good personalities... coughrosieodonnellcough
- epilonious, on 10/19/2007, -2/+7I eat filet mignon seven times a day
My bathtub's filled with Perrier
What can I say
This is the life
I buy a dozen cars when I'm in the mood
I hire somebody to chew my food
I'm an upwardly mobile dude
This is the life
They say that money corrupts you
But I can't really tell
I got the whole world at my feet
And I think it's pretty swell
I got women lined up outside my door
They've been waitin' there since the week before
Who could ask for more
This is the life
Sorry, this is what I have to do when someone reminds me of a Weird Al lyric - inactive, on 10/19/2007, -1/+6Turnips.
- rodbibeau, on 10/19/2007, -2/+6Those who say money cannot buy happiness have never been poor. They do not know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and like another poster mentioned, know if you can pay your rent.
I am sure Sharon Begley at NewsWeek has NEVER had to worry about money in her life! That fake bitch. - Cowfrommars, on 10/19/2007, -4/+8http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/97
- VinceNoir, on 10/19/2007, -5/+9Umm... perhaps that's because they don't realize that if they had that money they still wouldn't be happy? Trust me, money doesn't buy happiness. The more money you have, the more responsibility you have. It just depends on what kind of responsibility you really want. I won't say that all rich people are miserable and I won't say that all non-rich people are happy. In reality, there are probably proportionally equal percentages of happy and unhappy people in both groups.
Myself, I keep thinking that if I had about twice my current salary (which would just barely kick me into the six figure group) I would be comfortable. As far as life goes, I'm already happy. I just dislike what my job has turned into even though it's way better than what I could be doing for twice my salary (I work in IT for a non-profit organization) I could be making at least double what I make here in the private sector. I'd just NEVER have time for myself. And THAT is the real key. Whether your rich, middle class (all 20 of you) or poor, the thing that is far more valuable than money is time for yourself. If you have that, you're guaranteed to be happy. But if you're making $250,000 a year in a market where that's considered rich, and you work 80 hours a week and only see your wife and kids for 24 hours of that week, is it really worth it. No. Wait. Don't answer that. There are jackasses out there who would think that was just grand. - merm, on 10/19/2007, -1/+5I wish you weren't getting dug down, this is actually a really good lecture. You probably should have described what it was rather than just posted a random link.
- mahdaeng, on 10/19/2007, -0/+4The article doesn't claim that lack of money doesn't make one sad.
- staticneuron, on 10/19/2007, -0/+4This is BS. Money CAN buy happiness it is just people have very different opinions about worth. If I can pay of my bills and have the ability to own a house then that is happiness for me. To be able to travel anywhere I want when I go on vacation is cloud 9. To have enough money so i never have to work again... I wouldn't know exactly what to do with myself. I would be extremley happy with a BMW or any luxary car based off of its ride but some of the well-off people I have met wouldn't be happy unless they one up their peers. That has nothing to do with money and it cannot disprove that money can buy you happiness.
- 0crabby0, on 10/19/2007, -0/+4Inaccurate - women never make you happy...lol
-
Show 51 - 100 of 251 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is