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Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

mitchellh.com

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Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#61

Post by SoftTalker »

sph wrote: post #47
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money can very much buy happiness. Most of the things that make you unhappy can be remedied with money. How much money you need to accomplish that depends though.

> Most of the things that make you unhappy can be remedied with money Nonsense. Most of the things that can be remedied with money are not the truly painful things of life either. Will money save you from heartache? From the pain of losing a loved one? From being lonely? From having no respect from your peers? From losing your health to incurable cancer? At that point, all money can do for one is make them even more…

Money won't cure pain and suffering (although it does make trial lawyers happy) but even there it can buy better care. But pretty much everything else in life is better and more enjoyable with more money. You can live in a nicer house, in a better neighborhood, with better schools, with better goods and services, with more things to do, etc. You can travel more, in a more comfortable style. You can support other projects, artists, charity, etc.

Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#62

Post by epolanski »

cyber_kinetist wrote: post #9
ksdme9 wrote: post #2

It must be pretty satisfying to be able to throw that kind of money at stuff you admire.

I really do not understand how people talk about "Being rich / being a billionaire will make you fundamentally unhappy". Damn if I had all the money I have so many good-willed projects I want to throw money at!

Yet most wealthy people don't act like that.

The wealthiest man on the planet looks to be quite miserable, insecure and bitter most of the time.

Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#63

Post by lukaslalinsky »

tadasv wrote: post #53

This is great IMO. I like zig as a language and the idea behind it. But boy, it has a syntax issue. I with they figure out better syntax before 1.0, developer ergonomics I think are as important.

Zig has multiple issues, but syntax is definitely not it. It might take a little bit of time getting used to, if you are coming from another language, but it's one of the most readable languages I've ever worked with.

Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#64

Post by fhn »

asimovDev wrote: post #58
sph wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can 'throw' what you can afford and it will feel as satisfying. Just try it.

i don't think my bank will let me withdraw 400k in cash with the reasoning of "I want to throw it"

your bank owns your money?

Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#65

Post by fps-hero »

darren0 wrote: post #20
cyber_kinetist wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really do not understand how people talk about "Being rich / being a billionaire will make you fundamentally unhappy". Damn if I had all the money I have so many good-willed projects I want to throw money at!

It will not make you unhappy. It will just not make you happy. Big difference. The saying "money can't buy happiness" is in fact true no matter how much people want to rationalize the opposite.

People conflate the ideas of happiness, and comfort. Money buys access to increasing levels of comfort, but comfort becomes normalized very quickly. Once you've become accustomed to a certain level of comfort, the luxury of it wears off and it becomes a new norm. You also have an expectation to, at a minimum, maintain wealth so that you don't lose access to your current level of comfort.

When people with 1X see people with 10X or 100X and go hey! Why aren't you doing more? That gives me hope. When these people succeed, they are exactly the type of people who will give back and derive happiness from it. The right person who acquires wealth can do a lot of good in the world.

Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#66

Post by qmmmur »

colesantiago wrote: post #11

Doesn't this prove that Mitchell Hashimoto is probably the only "good billionaire"? I thought all billionaires were bad?

I’m not going to personally donate a little under 0.1% of my net worth, and I may seem a hypocrite, but at some point you have to acknowledge that it’s a maddening, life changing amount of money that in no way would have a noticeable effect on his life. On the other hand, it could hurt most people’s ability to pay rent to give away that money.

Survival is mostly a fixed cost that is unmet by many people, while other people donate those who are less off’s life earnings to their fancies they vibe with. It’s gross. Unfortunately humans are not brave or imaginative enough to realise another system (99% tax on billionaires would be a start), but most people also hate the idea that someone in need would get something for free or at a low cost.

Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#67

Post by randusername »

colesantiago wrote: post #11

Doesn't this prove that Mitchell Hashimoto is probably the only "good billionaire"? I thought all billionaires were bad?

Billionaires have an extraordinary economic footprint and level of influence. They employ teams of people managing their affairs through their family offices [0].

I do not think they should be thought of or spoken of as individuals, they are brand entities. Their true intentions are as unknowable from scale and complexity and opacity as, I don't know, Macy's.

Commenting on if any specific billionaire is a uniformly good or bad person distracts from the more important conversation on what the optimal number of billionaires should be and what the tradeoffs are in recalibrating the system.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_office

Re: Pledging another $400k to the Zig software foundation

#70

Post by SoftTalker »

bluGill wrote: post #50
Herbstluft wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What that always leaves out, however, is that no/little money can very much cause a lot of unhappiness.

The amount of money to get over that hump is small. Many people in poverty are happy. If you are at the very bottom with not enough to eat and such money can buy happiness, but you can be below the poverty line and still be about as happy as everyone.

This is a lie that people with money tell themselves to make themselves feel better about not giving away more of their money (ironically, proving themselves correct).

There's certainly a point of diminishing returns, and I'd even agree that it is a cliff. Once you have a decent place to live, and your day-to-day worries about paying the bills are covered, and unexpected emergencies do not threaten your ability to get to work, keep your job, and pay your rent, then for most people more money has a diminishing impact on happiness. But that amount of money is quite a bit more than the poverty line.

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