More on Money and Happiness | Big Questions Online

[autographedcat]

Some things to think about here. I've often half-joked that all I've ever wanted was for someone to PROVE to me that money can't make me happy. But the real truth is, maximizing your happiness isn't about how much you money you have, but how you invest it to get more of the things and experiences that make you happy.

More on Money and Happiness | Big Questions Online

[Elizabeth] Dunn is a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia, and in a new paper, she's teamed up with Dan Gilbert of Harvard University and Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia to show us how we can spend our money to better maximize our happiness.

According to them, 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." Because, they say, we're not spending it right.

The problem, they argue, is that:

Most people don’t know the basic scientific facts about happiness—about what brings it and what sustains it—and so they don’t know how to use their money to acquire it. ... Money is an opportunity for happiness, but it is an opportunity that people routinely squander because the things they think will make them happy often don’t.

Comments

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

Scientific facts about happiness? Gee, that sounds cold. There are some things in that article that I agree with, but I mostly disagree with its whole tone and attitude.

Money can't really buy happiness, but a lack of money tends to lead to unhappiness. Happiness comes from within and not being secure in having the basic necessities often prevents people from being able to generate happiness. So do brain chemistry issues like clinical depression. Once people have enough money to not have to worry about basic needs, I believe that the way they think is the more important factor. That can affect how they choose to spend their money, but I think putting the blame on how they spend their money once their basic needs are met is confusing cause and affect to some extent and it is largely avoiding the real issue of why people are still unhappy after spending their money the way they choose.

I've been intending to make a post about my ideas on how to be happy for quite some time now. Maybe I'll get around to doing it soon.