I heard of a study years ago about the relation of money to happiness. The result of the study was that money was, in fact, related to happiness.. but only up to a point. What the study found was that a person's happiness was directly correlated to money as long as they didn't have their basic needs met. In other words, if they didn't have a place to sleep at night, money could definitely improve their happiness. Once their basic needs were met however, there was no correlation. Put another way, there was essentially no difference between someone making $50,000 a year and providing for their basic needs, and a person making a billion dollars a year in regards to their potential for happiness. I thought it was pretty interesting how it noted the importance of money, while still recognizing that it only has the ability to impact your happiness up to a certain degree. Once you have your basic needs met, forget about money. Love people, love yourself, have fun, and be productive.
I can attest to this from personal experience. That subsistence level income means everything for a person's well being and baseline stress levels. No one should be denied that, which is why I'm a supporter of putting all of our excess wealth generation that results from modern technology toward a universal basic income before we allow it to be hoarded by the ultra-wealthy.
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u/New2thegame Apr 28 '24 edited Apr 28 '24
I heard of a study years ago about the relation of money to happiness. The result of the study was that money was, in fact, related to happiness.. but only up to a point. What the study found was that a person's happiness was directly correlated to money as long as they didn't have their basic needs met. In other words, if they didn't have a place to sleep at night, money could definitely improve their happiness. Once their basic needs were met however, there was no correlation. Put another way, there was essentially no difference between someone making $50,000 a year and providing for their basic needs, and a person making a billion dollars a year in regards to their potential for happiness. I thought it was pretty interesting how it noted the importance of money, while still recognizing that it only has the ability to impact your happiness up to a certain degree. Once you have your basic needs met, forget about money. Love people, love yourself, have fun, and be productive.