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I buy lottery tickets because it's fun (for me) to pretend that I will win. It's playing as in "lets pretend" and "dressing up". I know that it's 1:14,000,000 a

by sgt101 5y ago

I buy lottery tickets because it's fun (for me) to pretend that I will win. It's playing as in "lets pretend" and "dressing up". I know that it's 1:14,000,000 against and I know how big a 1,000,000 is. Dreaming in the longer run is good, and goals can provide meaning and structure in what is essentially a meaningless and chaotic world. Living in the moment is also good, playing is good.

saiya-jin 5y ago
Sure, but you can also direct all that time, money and energy towards something much more rewarding, with real and very probable chances of succeeding, instead of string of little failures to win for rest of your life. For example I have a long term dream of being self-sufficient paraglider, Icarus dream and all that. I live in a country where its hard to have full course (2 weeks minimum) unless you speak fluent french, which I don't yet. I have 2 tiny little small kids. I have had some recent injuries which delay/block similar efforts. But I didn't give up, waited patiently till suddenly I had a window for the course. Did it, and now looking for spring to continue the momentum, whenever family situation allows it. Some other activities would be much easier (and cheaper) to get into. But somehow I knew and felt that this will be very rewarding for me, combining hiking up and flying down the mountains. I don't call them dreams - those are rather impossible situations like me free floating on ISS looking a dark space around Earth, stars, moon and milky way. Or winning lottery. Goals is much better term for me, there are clear actionable steps to get there. Compared to this dream, paragliding is peanuts to achieve.
- ihateolives 5y ago
  > Sure, but you can also direct all that time, money and energy towards something much more rewarding It takes 0.1 units of time and energy to buy a lottery ticket, you just add one to your things at checkout. Sure, you could put that $1 per week towards your investment portfolio but hey, maybe? It becomes an issue when people are addicted to it or are harboring false hopes and spend considerable money on lotteries, but as OP was describing, it doesn't seem to be a problem.
tome 5y ago
> I buy lottery tickets because it's fun (for me) to pretend that I will win. Can't you pretend you will win without buying the tickets?
- openfuture 5y ago
  Yes.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- ryeights 5y ago
  Well, sure. But in one case you have a chance of winning (although vanishingly small), and in the other you don’t. So it’s much less entertaining.
  - dllthomas 5y ago
    You could find a winning lottery ticket, so without buying you do still have an (even smaller) chance. While one is sufficiently likely that it'll happen to someone and the other probably won't ever, neither will happen to you. I think the bigger difference is probably the prop and the immediacy of the experience.
- SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
  I can pretend I'm shooting monsters in my head too, but it's more enjoyable when playing Doom. Though admittedly this metaphor would probably have a sudden drop in happiness the closer to real it got.
vmception 5y ago
I buy lottery tickets because I like the privilege of not being poor enough for the purchase to be a tax on me, lottery tickets are often called a tax on the stupid or a tax on the poor, both are said. why not just entertainment? so I just like to think “l.o.l, privilege” when I buy one of the $595 hourly rates from cpa and legal beats my lottery ticket purchases any year, shrug I’ve traded options with a greater negative expected value than powerball

by sgt101 5y ago

saiya-jin 5y ago

Sure, but you can also direct all that time, money and energy towards something much more rewarding, with real and very probable chances of succeeding, instead of string of little failures to win for rest of your life. For example I have a long term dream of being self-sufficient paraglider, Icarus dream and all that. I live in a country where its hard to have full course (2 weeks minimum) unless you speak fluent french, which I don't yet. I have 2 tiny little small kids. I have had some recent injuries which delay/block similar efforts. But I didn't give up, waited patiently till suddenly I had a window for the course. Did it, and now looking for spring to continue the momentum, whenever family situation allows it. Some other activities would be much easier (and cheaper) to get into. But somehow I knew and felt that this will be very rewarding for me, combining hiking up and flying down the mountains. I don't call them dreams - those are rather impossible situations like me free floating on ISS looking a dark space around Earth, stars, moon and milky way. Or winning lottery. Goals is much better term for me, there are clear actionable steps to get there. Compared to this dream, paragliding is peanuts to achieve.

ihateolives 5y ago
> Sure, but you can also direct all that time, money and energy towards something much more rewarding It takes 0.1 units of time and energy to buy a lottery ticket, you just add one to your things at checkout. Sure, you could put that $1 per week towards your investment portfolio but hey, maybe? It becomes an issue when people are addicted to it or are harboring false hopes and spend considerable money on lotteries, but as OP was describing, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

tome 5y ago

> I buy lottery tickets because it's fun (for me) to pretend that I will win. Can't you pretend you will win without buying the tickets?

openfuture 5y ago
Yes.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ryeights 5y ago
Well, sure. But in one case you have a chance of winning (although vanishingly small), and in the other you don’t. So it’s much less entertaining.
- dllthomas 5y ago
  You could find a winning lottery ticket, so without buying you do still have an (even smaller) chance. While one is sufficiently likely that it'll happen to someone and the other probably won't ever, neither will happen to you. I think the bigger difference is probably the prop and the immediacy of the experience.
SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
I can pretend I'm shooting monsters in my head too, but it's more enjoyable when playing Doom. Though admittedly this metaphor would probably have a sudden drop in happiness the closer to real it got.

vmception 5y ago

I buy lottery tickets because I like the privilege of not being poor enough for the purchase to be a tax on me, lottery tickets are often called a tax on the stupid or a tax on the poor, both are said. why not just entertainment? so I just like to think “l.o.l, privilege” when I buy one of the $595 hourly rates from cpa and legal beats my lottery ticket purchases any year, shrug I’ve traded options with a greater negative expected value than powerball