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Infinite Games

youngmoney.co

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Re: Infinite Games

#21

Post by cableshaft »

slindsey wrote: post #15
pil0u wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I checked, Nobel Prize Daniel Kahneman published a study[0] in 2010 on 450'000 Americans concluding that people's emotional well-being increases with log(income) but stops increasing at around $75k/year. Has this changed this dramatically during the past decade? [0] https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_...

Someone else pointed out the recent paper, but I'll also point out that $75k per year in the US puts you in the 1% of global population for salary. So it's not like $75k is attainable for most people. https://howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org/how-rich-am-i?income=...

Adjusting for inflation, (since that number was from a paper published in 2010), that number is now $103k.

Re: Infinite Games

#22

Post by jschveibinz »

weego wrote: post #7
bluefirebrand wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money can't buy happiness but it's really good at fixing problems. If your unhappiness is caused by your car being broken down, money can buy that. Not having money to fix your basic life problems with is probably one of the biggest sources of unhappiness in the world.

Yeah I think the common trope needs an update. Money doesn't buy happiness, it removes a lot of unhappiness

I agree, and I think this is the basis for a nice essay. Having money provides a safety net: insurance against serious life disruption.

For example: Car broke down? No problem, just drive the other car or take Uber for a week. Rent goes up? No problem, just buy less clothing each month. Very ill? No problem, just pay for immediate health care.

Re: Infinite Games

#24

Post by minton »

CM30 wrote: post #18

There are some really good points here, especially for those trying to chase fame and fortune as a creator or artist. Like this: > You return from the peak and think, “Damn. I need that rush again. I need to climb another mountain.” But here’s the thing about that next mountain: it has to be greater than the previous one. This is basically what it's like being a popular YouTuber or Twitch streamer. You reach 1k subs,…

Kevin Hart describes this perfectly as the “Can’t Go Backwards” monster in his book Monsters and How to Tame Them[0]. Definitely worth a listen.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/62691779

Re: Infinite Games

#25

Post by flippinburgers »

paulpauper wrote: post #2

The most dangerous story that’s ever been told is happiness lies just beyond achievement. And you can spend your whole life following that story just to find that there really wasn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Hmm...but the evidence suggests happiness increases with income, even above $500k/year for some people. Maybe not a pot of gold, but having more money can make life easier anyway.

Anytime someone blathers "money doesn't equal happiness" advice, I ask them to offload at least some of their monthly paycheck into my wallet since it obviously isn't important to them. Nobody has ever taken me up on the offer.

Re: Infinite Games

#26

Post by flippinburgers »

pil0u wrote: post #10
paulpauper wrote: post #2

The most dangerous story that’s ever been told is happiness lies just beyond achievement. And you can spend your whole life following that story just to find that there really wasn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Hmm...but the evidence suggests happiness increases with income, even above $500k/year for some people. Maybe not a pot of gold, but having more money can make life easier anyway.

Last time I checked, Nobel Prize Daniel Kahneman published a study[0] in 2010 on 450'000 Americans concluding that people's emotional well-being increases with log(income) but stops increasing at around $75k/year. Has this changed this dramatically during the past decade? [0] https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_...

I could see my happiness topping out at roughly 1 million a year. Unfortunately I am roughly 1/16th of that per year right now. So it is likely I will never know.

Re: Infinite Games

#27

Post by freetinker »

dkersten wrote: post #16
bluefirebrand wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money can't buy happiness but it's really good at fixing problems. If your unhappiness is caused by your car being broken down, money can buy that. Not having money to fix your basic life problems with is probably one of the biggest sources of unhappiness in the world.

It’s very good at fixing problems, but I think even beyond that, money can be used in ways that increase happiness. Some things off the top of my head that money could buy that would increase my happiness or decrease my unhappiness due to things like stress: Beyond simply fixing problems, it also allows you to just not have to think about them at all, which removes stress. Eg if you have enough money, then bills just…

Spot on. Thank you for this comment! I think the $75k number is thrown around because perhaps it means you just escaped abject poverty.

Re: Infinite Games

#28

Post by mark_l_watson »

This article is similar to Sinek’s book The Infinite Game, which I enjoyed a lot.

Off topic and personal: I have enjoyed the tech industry for almost 50 years, but being in my 70s I just don’t have the energy to do everything I want to do. I still play the Infinite Game though as a 40 year AI practitioner by spending 2 hours a week working as an advisor to an AI startup, by closely following deep learning and specifically LLMs, spending about 1 hour a day trying papers + code, and about 2 hours a day writing whatever my “new book project” is. I also allow myself 30 minutes a day, usually during my morning coffee, to scan HN, Twitter, TLDR AI, etc., where I write down things I may want to look at in depth that day. (I wrote about this process yesterday http://mark-watson.blogspot.com/2023/03/time-and-attention-f...).

Anyway, I still feel in the game, I limit tech/gentleman scientist research/coding/writing to about 4 hours a day - that leaves plenty of time for friends, family, and reading.

I really think that some people try to achieve too much in life. Lower expectations and be happier.

Re: Infinite Games

#29

Post by tennisflyi »

CM30 wrote: post #18

There are some really good points here, especially for those trying to chase fame and fortune as a creator or artist. Like this: > You return from the peak and think, “Damn. I need that rush again. I need to climb another mountain.” But here’s the thing about that next mountain: it has to be greater than the previous one. This is basically what it's like being a popular YouTuber or Twitch streamer. You reach 1k subs,…

Not sure I agree. 1k > 10k > 100k pipeline is like tunnel vision induced by infinite growth/capitalism. I'm bootstrapping a small and intimate business right now and my ultimate goal is to just maintain $20k/month with 1k true followers regardless of any/all (economic) environments.
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