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> If someone has a comfortable, secure life with food and shelter they aren't going to be unhappy no matter how much someone else has. I believe there are stud

by clucas 7y ago

> If someone has a comfortable, secure life with food and shelter they aren't going to be unhappy no matter how much someone else has. I believe there are studies showing that relative inequality is a factor in people's happiness. Here is literally the first link on the first search I did: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0276562417302123 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027656241... Now, I'm sure you could make strong critiques of those sorts of studies, and I would probably agree with all our most of them. But ignoring the literature as you are is not likely to convince the people who actually need to be convinced. (And saying "well, I didn't experience it when I lived next to a rich person" is not going to go over well.)

roenxi 7y ago
Well, how equal are you to your neighbour? I don't even know, I couldn't answer that question if it were put to me. Might be 10x as wealthy as my neighbour, 100x, 1x, 1/2x. I seriously don't know and I'm pretty sure they don't either. People are notoriously bad at estimating wealth inequality. Something that they can't detect can't be the root cause of their unhappiness.
- clucas 7y ago
  My neighbor parenthetical was in direct response your own claim that you lived next to someone way wealthier than you, and it didn't make you feel bad. And, just because people are bad at estimating something doesn't mean that they can't detect it, or that they won't make decisions (conscious or unconscious) based on their bad estimate. Frankly, with the moving of the goalposts and clearly specious reasoning, I'm having a very difficult time believing you're arguing in good faith.
  - roenxi 7y ago
    > Frankly, with the moving of the goalposts and clearly specious reasoning, I'm having a very difficult time believing you're arguing in good faith. I don't have any specific advice. Trying harder often doesn't work for that sort of thing; maybe try meditation or some other activity to make you relaxed and reflective? > And, just because people are bad at estimating something doesn't mean that they can't detect it Not in the general case, but in this specific case it is pretty clear that they can't detect it. That is central to my point - inequality can't be the root cause because people can't detect it and there is no reason to be unhappy about inequality specifically even if they could. > My neighbor parenthetical was in direct response your own claim that you lived next to someone way wealthier than you, and it didn't make you feel bad. So which inequality is the problem? It is much easier to go to the actual problem - people struggling to make ends meet. That isn't an inequality problem.

by clucas 7y ago

roenxi 7y ago

Well, how equal are you to your neighbour? I don't even know, I couldn't answer that question if it were put to me. Might be 10x as wealthy as my neighbour, 100x, 1x, 1/2x. I seriously don't know and I'm pretty sure they don't either. People are notoriously bad at estimating wealth inequality. Something that they can't detect can't be the root cause of their unhappiness.

clucas 7y ago
My neighbor parenthetical was in direct response your own claim that you lived next to someone way wealthier than you, and it didn't make you feel bad. And, just because people are bad at estimating something doesn't mean that they can't detect it, or that they won't make decisions (conscious or unconscious) based on their bad estimate. Frankly, with the moving of the goalposts and clearly specious reasoning, I'm having a very difficult time believing you're arguing in good faith.
- roenxi 7y ago
  > Frankly, with the moving of the goalposts and clearly specious reasoning, I'm having a very difficult time believing you're arguing in good faith. I don't have any specific advice. Trying harder often doesn't work for that sort of thing; maybe try meditation or some other activity to make you relaxed and reflective? > And, just because people are bad at estimating something doesn't mean that they can't detect it Not in the general case, but in this specific case it is pretty clear that they can't detect it. That is central to my point - inequality can't be the root cause because people can't detect it and there is no reason to be unhappy about inequality specifically even if they could. > My neighbor parenthetical was in direct response your own claim that you lived next to someone way wealthier than you, and it didn't make you feel bad. So which inequality is the problem? It is much easier to go to the actual problem - people struggling to make ends meet. That isn't an inequality problem.