Originally posted by Archaeopteryx
Is person A, as a general rule, 100 times happier than person B?
No. There are studies that show that there is not much increase in happiness after a certain limit of wealth (US middle class wealth about) is attained.
Though, I am parroting this popsci fact like a good little sheep, cause I have no idea how they define happiness...
Originally posted by Dolos
Think of it this way: If person B is $100,000 in debt, than person A needs to come up with one thousand dollars to get out of debt.
Your reply is not relevant to the question the thread is about. I can be millions in debt but perfectly happy knowing a good bankruptcy lawyer will help me not have to pay.
Originally posted by Bardock42
No. There are studies that show that there is not much increase in happiness after a certain limit of wealth (US middle class wealth about) is attained.Though, I am parroting this popsci fact like a good little sheep, cause I have no idea how they define happiness...
It was much higher than that. But there was diminishing returns after a certain point.
Edit - Nope, I'm wrong, too.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/science-money-makes-you-happier-2013-04-30
It would appear you just get happier and happier but I am certain you get less happier with more more than a previous increment. No?
Re: If person A has 100 times more money than person B
Originally posted by Archaeopteryx
Is person A, as a general rule, 100 times happier than person B?
I doubt it.
Consider: A has $1; B has $0.01
An essentially meaningless difference in net worth.
Consider: A has $100,000,000; B has $1,000,000
Both are extraordinarily wealth and you'd expect the marginal value of the extra money to be quite low.
Consider: A has $100,000; B has $1000
Here is the approximate range where it would make sense for A to be much happier than B.
I'm not sure exactly how happiness is measured but I've seen example of scales where people were asked to rate their happiness from 1 to 10 and those surveys showed little to no difference due to things like wealth.
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
I doubt it.Consider: A has $1; B has $0.01
An essentially meaningless difference in net worth.Consider: A has $100,000,000; B has $1,000,000
Both are extraordinarily wealth and you'd expect the marginal value of the extra money to be quite low.Consider: A has $100,000; B has $1000
Here is the approximate range where it would make sense for A to be much happier than B.I'm not sure exactly how happiness is measured but I've seen example of scales where people were asked to rate their happiness from 1 to 10 and those surveys showed little to no difference due to things like wealth.
If you rate out of ten (1-10 with natural numbers) no one can possibly be 100 times more happy than anyone else, so that would be a no by default
Originally posted by dadudemon
It was much higher than that. But there was diminishing returns after a certain point.Edit - Nope, I'm wrong, too.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/science-money-makes-you-happier-2013-04-30
It would appear you just get happier and happier but I am certain you get less happier with more more than a previous increment. No?
Yeah, well you can find studies for everything right?
Originally posted by dadudemon
It would appear you just get happier and happier but I am certain you get less happier with more more than a previous increment. No?
They describe the relationship as being log-linear which means it slows down as you go further along it. I'm not sure the results make any sense as reported, though.
If the highest rating is "Very Happy" then when you reach a point where 100% of people report being "Very Happy" (which they did) then you've reached the limits of your scale. Without a more detailed scale it's ridiculous to say that it goes up without measure.
If person A has 100 times more money than person B
Originally posted by ArchaeopteryxThat has not been my experience. At best he (or she) is a bit happier when it comes to managing the ordinary stuff, like having the cash to pay bills. However, when it comes to self-worth, self-esteem as related to quantity of cash, he/she is likely to be more insecure, anxious and frustrated.
Is person A, as a general rule, 100 times happier than person B?
No one gets out alive.