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Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
11–20 of 86 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#12http://everygeek.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Scrooge-McDu...
I respectfully ask you to not post jokes and memes on HN. This isn’t reddit.
Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#13Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#14If we're talking about the anxieties that come from, say, the nagging sense that "there should be more than this to life; i have everything, why aren't i happy?": The wise ones give all their money away. "Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!"
Not to be confused with the (damaging) ideas of the "prosperity gospel", Andrew Carnegie wrote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gospel_of_Wealth , and now we have libraries.
Bill Gates is busy trying his hardest to stomp out malaria.
Paul Allen is trying his best to do as much blue-sky biomedical research as possible.
etc.,etc.
Even if, perhaps especially if,you came into your riches by unscrupulous ways, seeing that your surplus wealth is sunk into things that matter will help you sleep better at night -- because, indeed, you're doing what you ought to be doing.
Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#15The same way non-billionaires do: there isn’t anything that money can do about it. While ‘only’ worth $150m, Katherine Brosnahan (you may know as Kate Spade) tragically hanged herself last week after suffering for a few years. If $150m can’t buy you out of it, I’m not sure another $850m would.
Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#16Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#17I’d argue that an “anxious billionaire” is an oxymoron. The qualities that push someone to billionaire status are in direct opposition to someone who has anxiety.
Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#18Snarky answer: They sleep on piles of money. Less snarky: They have different anxieties. They don't worry about losing their house or their job. They don't worry about the monthly bills or an unexpected medical event. Instead, they worry about being back in the place where they have to worry about those things. (I think. I'm not, alas, in a position to know first-hand what billionaires are anxious about.) So they spr…
I imagine the anxieties of billionaires are more existential. For the average person, a huge chunk of your time and energy is spent on obtaining enough wealth to support your lifestyle. Life is about providing for you and your loved ones, and how you can provide more.
Without that purpose to pursue, a billionaire might feel anxious about what to do with their life.
Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#19http://everygeek.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Scrooge-McDu...
I respectfully ask you to not post jokes and memes on HN. This isn’t reddit.
I respectfully disagree with this sentiment. Light-hearted jokes should be welcomed. A joke adds humor to the discussion for some, and that is a valuable contribution. As valuable as technical, political or sociological insight in many cases.
Hacker News experiences nowhere near a volume of spammy meme sharing that would merit rebuking joke comments, enforcing a policy discouraging them, or even downvoting them out of view.
Re: Ask HN: How do billionaires deal with their anxiety?
#20The same way non-billionaires do: there isn’t anything that money can do about it. While ‘only’ worth $150m, Katherine Brosnahan (you may know as Kate Spade) tragically hanged herself last week after suffering for a few years. If $150m can’t buy you out of it, I’m not sure another $850m would. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Spade#Death
They can quit stressful jobs, or immediately get appointments with great healthcare providers, or go travel in Europe for a year.
Let's be fair: money can't solve all your problems, but it can solve some of them.
The only problem is that serious mental illness is one of those things that money can't magically fix.