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If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

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Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#31

Post by bryanlarsen »

paxys wrote: post #30

Having money solves money problems. A huge chunk of people worldwide are struggling because of money problems, so of course money will make them happier. Others have problems that have nothing to do with money, and for them "just spend more wisely, duh" is idiotic advice. So the answer to "does money make people happy?" (on in this case "does using money correctly make people happy?") is – first tell me why they are…

A recent life lesson I learned: removing a source of unhappiness doesn't make one happy, but it does enable happiness. You can't be happy while you have a source of unhappiness so removing the source of unhappiness is the necessary first step. But adding a source of happiness is a required second step.

Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#32

Post by Scarblac »

albert_e wrote: post #3

Conclusion: > Money can buy many, if not most, if not all of the things that make people happy, and if it doesn’t, then the fault is ours. Is that a grammatically sound sentence?

Seems it's two sentences that have been unnecessarily merged with ", and".

Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#33

Post by paxys »

johnthuss wrote: post #10

> research suggests that people are often happier when they spend their money on experiences rather than things I concur.

There isn't really a clear separation between the two. People can experience physical things exactly the same as an activity or a vacation.

Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#34

Post by fullshark »

082349872349872 wrote: post #14
fullshark wrote: post #6

What if people don't actually want money and want upward social mobility which is correlated with money?

Then they could try keeping their eyes and ears open and their wallet shut? Not being "nouveau" should be easy for those who are willing to be themselves.

Social mobility isn’t just having a large bank account, it’s about having the better lifestyle that comes with it.

Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#37

Post by loco5niner »

albert_e wrote: post #3

Conclusion: > Money can buy many, if not most, if not all of the things that make people happy, and if it doesn’t, then the fault is ours. Is that a grammatically sound sentence?

> Money can buy many of the things, and if it doesn’t, then the fault is ours.

Yes. Get rid of some of the fluff, and it is more plainly correct. However, that second comma is extraneous.

Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#38

Post by loco5niner »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #31
paxys wrote: post #30

Having money solves money problems. A huge chunk of people worldwide are struggling because of money problems, so of course money will make them happier. Others have problems that have nothing to do with money, and for them "just spend more wisely, duh" is idiotic advice. So the answer to "does money make people happy?" (on in this case "does using money correctly make people happy?") is – first tell me why they are…

A recent life lesson I learned: removing a source of unhappiness doesn't make one happy, but it does enable happiness. You can't be happy while you have a source of unhappiness so removing the source of unhappiness is the necessary first step. But adding a source of happiness is a required second step.

I would add to that the fact that some people are even able to get past pretty amazing difficulties and still manage to be happy. So maybe even these "sources of unhappiness" are not fixed.

I mean, check out this happy guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Vujicic#:~:text=Nicholas%....

Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#39

Post by 082349872349872 »

082349872349872 wrote: post #8
albert_e wrote: post #3

Conclusion: > Money can buy many, if not most, if not all of the things that make people happy, and if it doesn’t, then the fault is ours. Is that a grammatically sound sentence?

Diagram it and find out

Now you all have nerd sniped me.

The question of whether a sentence be grammatical equivales the existence of a parse tree which, when linearised, yields the original sentence.

Because the sentence is finite, it has a finite number of components, and hence a finite number of possible parse trees, so we could enumerate them all until we find one that works.

Exercise: what is the maximum number of parse trees a sentence of length N might have?

However (being an english speaker and using wetware as an oracle) a suitable witness can be found by inspection:

  and
  ├─can buy
  │ ├─Money
  │ └─of
  │   ├─if not
  │   │ ├─if not
  │   │ │ ├─many
  │   │ │ └─most
  │   │ └─all
  │   └─that
  │     ├─the things
  │     └─make
  │       ├─people
  │       └─happy
  └─if/then
    ├─doesn't [buy]
    │ ├─it
    │ └─[them]
    └─is
      ├─the fault
      └─ours
QEF

Re: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right [pdf]

#40

Post by johnthuss »

paxys wrote: post #33
johnthuss wrote: post #10

> research suggests that people are often happier when they spend their money on experiences rather than things I concur.

There isn't really a clear separation between the two. People can experience physical things exactly the same as an activity or a vacation.

One big difference is that physical things exact an on-going tax since you have to store them in your house and maintain them. Hence the "does it spark joy?" question.

That said, the up-side is that physical goods can provide on-going benefit. For example, I love my AirPods Pro - they bring me joy every day.

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