Live data from Hacker News

I make good money. Why do I still feel like this?

yourbrainonmoney.substack.com

21–23 of 23 posts

Re: I make good money. Why do I still feel like this?

#21
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Humans are simply NOT designed to _be_ happy, we are designed to _search_ for happiness." If that were true, then all humans and the people in all cultures would be equally unhappy. And everyone would be equally unhappy all the time. But they are not, partly because of people's expectation levels.

In what paradise do you live in? On average, people are equally unhappy. Why do you think there’s a saying that ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’? You could be rich, you could be poor, you could be healthy, you could be a cripple, you’ll still feel meh, on average, about the whole life business. Happiness is an extreme, like sadness is another. You dip into those states for a bit, the homeostasis returns you to the middl…

Presumably they're from one of the happy countries that you believe don't exist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report

Re: I make good money. Why do I still feel like this?

#22
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Humans are simply NOT designed to _be_ happy, we are designed to _search_ for happiness." If that were true, then all humans and the people in all cultures would be equally unhappy. And everyone would be equally unhappy all the time. But they are not, partly because of people's expectation levels.

In what paradise do you live in? On average, people are equally unhappy. Why do you think there’s a saying that ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’? You could be rich, you could be poor, you could be healthy, you could be a cripple, you’ll still feel meh, on average, about the whole life business. Happiness is an extreme, like sadness is another. You dip into those states for a bit, the homeostasis returns you to the middl…

> money doesn’t buy happiness

Not true. Money does buy happiness up to a point. Going from sleeping in the streets to having a place to stay, food, security, and medical services makes a big happiness difference.

However once the basics are there, additional money makes less of a difference (but not 0).

Re: I make good money. Why do I still feel like this?

#23

Humans are simply NOT designed to _be_ happy, we are designed to _search_ for happiness. Any genes that makes us totally content have been wiped out by millions of years of evolution. We will never simply "be happy". Happiness will always be just around the corner. Any sense of happiness, fulfillment or content that you have ever felt are all bait and lure created by the mind so that you remember to desire for more.…

https://denmark.dk/people-and-culture/happiness/

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/why-the-danes-are-the-happies...

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2018/03/why-denmark-dominate...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygge

Post reply on HN