12 ms·
It's strange that people allow their lives to be disrupted by money. It seems like if you won a million, you can continue living the life you have now plus $1 m
by cynicalkane 17y ago
It's strange that people allow their lives to be disrupted by money. It seems like if you won a million, you can continue living the life you have now plus $1 million in CDs or something.
To me, the negative effect that windfall amounts of money have on a lot of people is the barest example of how people often function better under constraints. Living freely is hard.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- praptak 17y ago"It seems like if you won a million, you can continue living the life you have now plus $1 million in CDs or something." Maybe if nobody knows that you've got the million (not the case here.) Otherwise the money may draw unwanted attention - "friends" asking you to lend them some or even criminals trying to convince you to part with the money.
- iskander 17y agoThis is especially a problem in Russia, where having even modest sums can draw the attention of local goons. I don't think being a famous mathematician is any protection from having Grisha the neighborhood limb breaker show up at your door.
- rdtsc 17y agoI never thought of it that way. But that is certainly a interesting angle to it. He might be puting himself and his mom in danger if others thought he has a $1m. Anyone in Russia who has that kind of money also has body guards and private mansions with tall electrified fences.
- borism 17y agoNot that he's any safer if he doesn't accept the money - local limb breaker may come and try to convince him to take it or more probably won't even know whether he accepted or not.
- petercooper 17y agoMy life plays the lottery and I've thought about this stuff before. I believe you have to do publicity here and there's no way I'd want to live where I do now with people knowing what we look like and how much we won. (Not that I would anyway, I'd be throwing $500k down on an EB-5 and moving all of our asses to California. But still..)
- Hexstream 17y agoCan you really get all that with $1m and still have some money left?...
- hrabago 17y agoThis reminds me of a story about how Manu Ginobili's family, who refused to move to the US, has to live with police protection to keep from being kidnapped. I can't find the exact story I read from before, though. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1839968 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1839968
- nearestneighbor 17y agoRelevant clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9OfztENArE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9OfztENArE