Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#231

Post by johnchristopher » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 1:37 PM UTC

C1sc0cat wrote: post #191

johnchristopher wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My intuition tells me the internet social status doesn't provide the same health benefits than real world social status for people who have not much of it.

The op was referring to perceived status for example I used to work at a former "proper" civil service telecoms company in the UK. Because of the inherited status of M&P grades most of us where quite happy to take our toil - though this depended on your family's status as well.

No, GP was specifically talking about HN karma https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18643427.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#232

Post by Amygaz » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 1:38 PM UTC

antocv wrote: post #204

simonh wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Thanks for replying. I didn’t know where to start with a reply. I wasn’t sure he knew what he was talking about. Or if he lives on the same planet... And my alien is not very good.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#233

Post by lordnacho » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 1:47 PM UTC

hycaria wrote: post #212

lordnacho wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends a lot on the particular place you're in. And that in turn may depend a lot on where your existing network is.

Yeah, because children die of cramping when they don't have individual rooms.

I grew up without my own room too. Slept in an entry hall for many years.

But if you're going to have kids there's at least one other person who will have an opinion about this.

You will definitely reduce your chances of having kids if you insist on finding someone who is totally fine with squishing the kids together.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#234

Post by scarface74 » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 1:51 PM UTC

Another perspective outside of the SV bubble. I grew up in a typical middle class home - mother a teacher, father a factory worker.

Because of $reasons I really didn’t focus on my career until my mid 30s. I bought a house in my late 20s in a new (statistically) middle class neighborhood. All of the houses around the area and all of my friends were middle class. Some houses slightly bigger, some cars slightly better but no serious differences.

Then I got married and had (step)children who were use to going to school in the more affluent part of town. When I was single, I really didn’t think about the school system. I was making more by then and we moved to the more affluent part of town. While we were on the bottom of the top quintile by income, since by definition the top quintile is boundless, there is a much wider disparity in income between the 80 percentile and the 95 percentile. I was exposed to the lifestyle of people with a lot more money than I have.

I have a much nicer house (relatively - its nothing extravagant), in a better part of town, making twice as much as I was but I actually feel poorer even though my income is more than double what it was 10 years ago and I’m much more comfortable now.

We are not at all “rich” but as a software developer/architect with a working spouse, our household income is more than 80% of households - again not bragging, almost any experienced developer working in a major metropolitan area would be in the same boat.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#235

Post by projectramo » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 2:05 PM UTC

wastedhours wrote: post #185

osrec wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's generally assumed that more money equals better physical health, but the psychological aspects are very underrated. Money equals certainty for a lot of people. It lets them count on certain things always being there. Having your own home, respect, clout totally builds your confidence and lets you face life with positivity. You can afford to be wrong more often, so you don't mind sticking your neck out -…

> A poor person simply doesn't have these luxuries, and the anxiety of poverty is a killer in its own right. When I was younger the lyrics of "Common People" by Pulp [0] really resonated with me on this point - that day to day background worry of making ends meet plagues communities. Obviously once you reach a certain level of comfort, you get diminishing returns (and even negative returns once the money owns you), b…

Not related but William Shatner (yes, Kirk) does an amazing cover of that song. (Ben Folds produces)

I think it works because Shatner's spoken work technique really brings out the lyrics.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#236

Post by dsfyu404ed » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 2:13 PM UTC

anoncake wrote: post #229

golergka wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, people try to manipulate you all the time. My point is - it's fair game. It's exactly the game that all of us are playing all the time, it's pretty fun, it's challenging, and I see no point in painting someone as immoral just because they're winning at it.

Not all of us play this "game". Most of us aren't psychopaths.

But you have to coexist with everyone else in a society that finds advertising, manipulation (to an extent) and other things psychopaths excel at tolerable.

There's a whole range of "bad" things that society finds tolerable (I'm talking in general, not specifically advertising or trying to manipulate people) and if you cannot stand one/many of those things then you're free to live in a log cabin in the woods.

I'd love to not play the taxes game or put up with the paternalistic government I live under but it just so happens that it's a prerequisite to being part of society. I'm free to screw off to some log cabin in the woods but I'd rather live within society even if it had some problems.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#237

Post by anoncake » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 2:14 PM UTC

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #236

anoncake wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all of us play this "game". Most of us aren't psychopaths.

But you have to coexist with everyone else in a society that finds advertising, manipulation (to an extent) and other things psychopaths excel at tolerable. There's a whole range of "bad" things that society finds tolerable (I'm talking in general, not specifically advertising or trying to manipulate people) and if you cannot stand one/many of those things then you're free to live in a log cabin in the woods. I'd lov…

That does not make advertising and other manipulation less immoral.

> and if you cannot stand one/many of those things then you're free to live in a log cabin in the woods.

If you have nothing intelligent to contribute, don't post.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#238

Post by segmondy » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 2:20 PM UTC

This is a stupid article, it's like making a case that an author is not happy with their past works because they keep writing even after having a best seller. Or that a director is not happy with their movie after having a blockbuster and winning top industry awards because they keep creating.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#239

Post by snarf21 » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 2:26 PM UTC

ThomPete wrote: post #207

A rich man is just a poor man with a lot of money. The biggest drug with having money is the opportunities that come with it. Financial freedom is freedom to chose what you want to do with your life and who you want to do it with. That's one half of the drug. That your days suddenly can look like one long adventure without too much repetition besides what you choose. The apple in paradise is that other people have mo…

Right, all money ever buys you is time. The big problem most people have is that they are miserable money or not. The best advice is to find something to be involved in, find a hobby to master, find a cause to support. There is such power in a supportive community of similarly focused people working for the same end.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#240

Post by belorn » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 2:28 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #138

belorn wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might sound odd, but there is some real health benefits in perceiving oneself as having high social status. A few of those are better immune system, successful aging, lower stress hormones, lower risk for illness and depression, faster recovery, and just general higher energy and confidence. It can have a very strong positive effect on ones social network. It is a very powerful and deeply biological aspect of li…

My intuition tells me the internet social status doesn't provide the same health benefits than real world social status for people who have not much of it.

It would make for a interesting study, but the example that I heard in one lecture on multi social groups was a janitor (low rank work position) gaining health benefits from being the leader of a chess club. I view it as completely plausible that Internet social points to be very similar to that of chess club social points.

That said, perception can quickly change and it very possible that the distance that Internet has makes it more vulnerable to collapsing. In an other lecture on stress it was pointed out that few things cause more harm than when false hope is found to be misplaced, so it very possible that if a individual perceive themselves as high ranked only to be proven wrong, then that can cause major health related issues. It was something that stress studies found out the hard way.