6 ms·

James, in my head I read all your articles in Ted Mosby's voice. On a more serious note, I think that safety, among with freedom, is the number one reason I'd l

James, in my head I read all your articles in Ted Mosby's voice. On a more serious note, I think that safety, among with freedom, is the number one reason I'd like to increase my income by an order of magnitude. And by safety I mean the safety net that money can provide. It doesn't make you immortal or immune to disease, but it can help in several ways. If you are in any type of legal trouble, you can hire an awesome lawyer who'll increase your chances of remaining free. If you are sick and need a surgery right away, you can go to the States and pay for it, and so on.

ry0ohki 16y ago
A common theme seems to be that monetary safety comes at a price of psychological safety (ie rich people worry constantly about getting robbed, losing all their money, getting cancer etc...). I think we've evolved to never feel completely secure.
- jaltucher 16y ago
  thats right. the challenge is to find the right balance of health, money, work, that allows you to focus on the nuances of happiness (emotional health, spiritual health, simplicity, etc) and not constantly be driven with a desire for warning More.
- nazgulnarsil 16y ago
  as karl pilkington would put it, we all have a problem hole. gotta put something in it, and whatever you put in will expand to the same size.
  - katovatzschyn 16y ago
    Alternatively: http://www.dresdencodak.com/images/stall10.jpg http://www.dresdencodak.com/images/stall10.jpg
brianobush 16y ago
you can get safety by just setting aside an emergency fund for 6 months of expenses. it works.
- mberning 16y ago
  That's what I do. I think it's also good to remind yourself of the difference between what you need to survive, and what you simply enjoy. I feel so fortunate to enjoy so many luxuries, but I also know that I can (and did) live without them.
- michaelochurch 16y ago
  Safety has degrees. In functioning economies, a competent person will pretty much never be involuntarily unemployed for more than 6 months, but the 2008 financial crisis almost got us into long-lasting economic dysfunction. That mess could have been a lot worse and lasted a lot longer, and because of the lax regulation and immense corruption (I know it's fashionable on HN to focus on a tiny corner of capitalism where people are decent and things actually work, but trust me that there's a lot of incompetence and malevolence out there) the next recession is likely to be worse. So, while 6 months of savings might be enough to handle sudden job loss in 2007 or 2011, I can't guarantee the same about, say, 2018. Six months of savings means you're okay as long as (1) the economy doesn't utterly tank, which it almost did in 2008 and probably will do before 2020 because of the assholes running it, and (2) you don't have any major health problems. It means that as long as the option for talented people people to reliably sell labor to the market at a fair price exists, and as long as you don't develop health problems that render you unable to make this exchange (i.e. hold down a job) then you don't need to worry about events like layoffs. Fair, I'll grant you that, but there's a great deal of difference between the single-9 security offered by being smart and prudent while having an emergency fund and the triple-9 security offered by millions of dollars and elite social connections.
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Eliezer 16y ago
Er, actually money sort of does make you immortal if you've got the right sort of attitude toward cheating at reality. http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Cryonics http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Cryonics. Money also buys happiness if you know the right things about hedonic psychology - that owning a possession isn't as exciting as the moment of first acquiring it which is what you anchor on when thinking of its value, and that the trick is to buy happy memories, and that you should ask "What experiences would excite me?" instead of "What static qualities would make me happy?", etcetera. It's bleeping amazing what you can do with money and knowledge.

ry0ohki 16y ago

A common theme seems to be that monetary safety comes at a price of psychological safety (ie rich people worry constantly about getting robbed, losing all their money, getting cancer etc...). I think we've evolved to never feel completely secure.

jaltucher 16y ago
thats right. the challenge is to find the right balance of health, money, work, that allows you to focus on the nuances of happiness (emotional health, spiritual health, simplicity, etc) and not constantly be driven with a desire for warning More.
nazgulnarsil 16y ago
as karl pilkington would put it, we all have a problem hole. gotta put something in it, and whatever you put in will expand to the same size.
- katovatzschyn 16y ago
  Alternatively: http://www.dresdencodak.com/images/stall10.jpg http://www.dresdencodak.com/images/stall10.jpg

brianobush 16y ago

you can get safety by just setting aside an emergency fund for 6 months of expenses. it works.

mberning 16y ago
That's what I do. I think it's also good to remind yourself of the difference between what you need to survive, and what you simply enjoy. I feel so fortunate to enjoy so many luxuries, but I also know that I can (and did) live without them.
michaelochurch 16y ago
Safety has degrees. In functioning economies, a competent person will pretty much never be involuntarily unemployed for more than 6 months, but the 2008 financial crisis almost got us into long-lasting economic dysfunction. That mess could have been a lot worse and lasted a lot longer, and because of the lax regulation and immense corruption (I know it's fashionable on HN to focus on a tiny corner of capitalism where people are decent and things actually work, but trust me that there's a lot of incompetence and malevolence out there) the next recession is likely to be worse. So, while 6 months of savings might be enough to handle sudden job loss in 2007 or 2011, I can't guarantee the same about, say, 2018. Six months of savings means you're okay as long as (1) the economy doesn't utterly tank, which it almost did in 2008 and probably will do before 2020 because of the assholes running it, and (2) you don't have any major health problems. It means that as long as the option for talented people people to reliably sell labor to the market at a fair price exists, and as long as you don't develop health problems that render you unable to make this exchange (i.e. hold down a job) then you don't need to worry about events like layoffs. Fair, I'll grant you that, but there's a great deal of difference between the single-9 security offered by being smart and prudent while having an emergency fund and the triple-9 security offered by millions of dollars and elite social connections.
- deleted 16y ago
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- deleted 16y ago
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Eliezer 16y ago

Er, actually money sort of does make you immortal if you've got the right sort of attitude toward cheating at reality. http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Cryonics http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Cryonics. Money also buys happiness if you know the right things about hedonic psychology - that owning a possession isn't as exciting as the moment of first acquiring it which is what you anchor on when thinking of its value, and that the trick is to buy happy memories, and that you should ask "What experiences would excite me?" instead of "What static qualities would make me happy?", etcetera. It's bleeping amazing what you can do with money and knowledge.