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Rich people getting bored and unhappy is 200% on them and them only. I know of no less than 7 separate things I'd lose myself into -- all related to inventing s

Rich people getting bored and unhappy is 200% on them and them only. I know of no less than 7 separate things I'd lose myself into -- all related to inventing stuff -- that I actually would be afraid if I'll be giving my wife enough attention. That's how active I would be if I didn't have to worry about a job and a salary. I know other people like myself as well, some more obsessed and downright hyperactive even. People lose themselves in material items and status. I want to buy stuff so I waste less time on things I don't enjoy -- washing machine is the perfect example. I want computers because I can program my ideas. I want an electronic workshop corner because I want to get into that and experiment. I want an air fryer because I have high cholesterol and want to experiment with healthier cooking. Many other good and valid examples exist. Don't lose yourself in material items. Status does not exist. Decouple your money-making scheme from other people perceiving you as having "status". Important thing is for the number in the bank to keep increasing, everything else is a distraction. As long as you're not harming people, kidnapping kids or raping anyone then by all means, go crazy getting rich by doing legal stuff. My observation from the 8 rich people I knew in my life is: they got lucky, they succeeded too quickly, they have ZERO direction in life, they have no clue what to do with their free time. They got miserable not even 2 years into it. To me they are weak and uninteresting people whose only impressive trait is that ONCE in their lifetime they managed to combine two and two together and called somebody at the right time (and these opportunities were more often than not created for them; they didn't initiate them). But of course, "pull the ladder after yourself" and all, we know it. They are weak and uninteresting but they don't want competition and they have the tools in their hands to ensure that's the case. It is how it is apparently. I'll fight to become rich as much as my personal limitations allow me and I am likely to fail but at least I won't ever complain about "having too much" or "the moment you have it it's no longer wanted". Meh. Get some imagination! --- Oh, and that article sounds like paid propaganda: "you actually don't want what you think you want, be happy with what you have". Oh yeah? Well I'll be happy if I work 20h a month for the same money as now. And healthier. I can't. Then bugger off because your article does not help with anything.

plastic3169 4y ago
You are right it’s 100% on them to sort their life out. Like your 8 acquaintances I think most people are very unsuited for riches atleast until they adjust. Also almost all people think they themselves would be great managing that situation. It’s like imagining you will be great parent before you have kids. Or the famous quote, Everybody has a plan before they get punched in the mouth. Life change like that affects your whole life from there on 24/7. In a way you cannot actively decide how you will act. You will probably fall back to your inner default way of reacting to things, but your life is subtly changed. The things that were great passions when you always lacked time to properly get in to them might turn out to be just another job when you start doing them more. Holiday trip might mean nothing if your not having a break from anything. Ventures in easy mode without risk might feel stale. All consumption is pointless anyway. Maybe all tinkering is as well? Etc.
- pdimitar 4y ago
  Getting a vacation when you have no job indeed sounds funny and meaningless, yes, but we also need a change of scenery every now and then, regardless of our level of wealth. It's a basic and universal human trait. And maybe I'll get tired of the tinkering I want to do now (but can't). I'd still like to find out if that's the case. There are creative pursuits that can take a lifetime however. Eventually you will find and choose what to consume you. My main point is that there is a subset of humans who can never be bored. And it seems that it has no intersection with rich people. If that's indeed true (which I doubt; the world is not so black and white) it would be interesting to find out why. In the end, we all need meaning and some struggle. Shame that most rich people choose to struggle over petty stuff like who has the most expensive watch or who will sleep with the youngest legal boy/girl on that party, or whatever else that signals status. Shame on them that not even one of them tried to become Ironman or Batman.
  - plastic3169 4y ago
    Here’s hoping we make it to the otherside and can reflect back to this with experience. TBH I’m sure there are people who have no trouble with these things. It is just common to read experiences from rich and famous in which they say that it is actually quite tricky to live that life (sandwhiched between the obligatory platitudes about how lucky and priviledged they are)
lexapro 4y ago
>I know of no less than 7 separate things I'd lose myself into Consider yourself lucky then. Privileged even. Money is not the only privilege there is.
- pdimitar 4y ago
  In this case it's bittersweet, sadly. Can never muster the time or energy to devote myself to them because working for the man is way too tiring but also inescapable... And yep I'm grateful that I have a curious nature.
zackmorris 4y ago
The one thing I can't have is rest. I have approximations of rest: coping, procrastinating, dissociating. But the fantasy of achieving rest is something that I've had to let go of, like Sisyphus. After multiple boom-bust cycles and returning to the land of the living after burnout, I feel that the world's problems are caused by people who have too much either being unwilling or unable to empathize with the struggle of others. It's not that I'm jealous of the rich. In fact, I have no real use for money other than to get left alone. And it's not that I'm lazy. In fact, my education, experience and work capacity allow me to take on high workloads. No, the central crisis for me is that my standard of living depends on taking from others. If I want to eat well, wilderness has to be cleared, someone has to pick the food, animals will die. If I want to live well, trees have to get cut down, fossil fuels have to be extracted, people will die mining and refining minerals. All that I do, all that I am, places additional burden on someone else. So I've decided to live modestly, working just enough to keep a roof over my head and drive a vehicle so that I can meet the minimum demands of civilization. If I could, I would give it all back and live in a state of ultimate gratitude and peace. But the wealthy don't do that. They just keep taking more and more and more, giving little or nothing back. Reaching a position of power only to deny it to someone else. Perhaps the ultimate sin besides taking another's life. Profit means that someone didn't pay high enough wages. Inheritance means that resources were stolen from one generation for the next. Philanthropy means that someone didn't pay their taxes, so we had to. Once you've hit rock bottom and see through the veil of illusion, wealth accumulation becomes a repugnant thing. The thing separating one from the divine. The thing that perpetuates the suffering we were born into. The eerie part is, for all that I've experienced and learned, I know that this analysis of the status quo is not the final answer. I have not really had an epiphany. We all arrived here to incarnate as humans and experience the full gamut of suffering and bliss. We have philosophies and religious traditions glorifying suffering, even calling it noble and pious. But I've struggled for so long that it's all I have really known, to the point where I've lost sight of how to improve my situation. But what about the people who have achieved success, who do have the means to make things better? Where are the wealthy people who demand shorter work hours, more automation and time off, more shared prosperity and even UBI? Surely there is at least one willing and able to speak out and step up.
- 4y ago

plastic3169 4y ago

You are right it’s 100% on them to sort their life out. Like your 8 acquaintances I think most people are very unsuited for riches atleast until they adjust. Also almost all people think they themselves would be great managing that situation. It’s like imagining you will be great parent before you have kids. Or the famous quote, Everybody has a plan before they get punched in the mouth. Life change like that affects your whole life from there on 24/7. In a way you cannot actively decide how you will act. You will probably fall back to your inner default way of reacting to things, but your life is subtly changed. The things that were great passions when you always lacked time to properly get in to them might turn out to be just another job when you start doing them more. Holiday trip might mean nothing if your not having a break from anything. Ventures in easy mode without risk might feel stale. All consumption is pointless anyway. Maybe all tinkering is as well? Etc.

pdimitar 4y ago
Getting a vacation when you have no job indeed sounds funny and meaningless, yes, but we also need a change of scenery every now and then, regardless of our level of wealth. It's a basic and universal human trait. And maybe I'll get tired of the tinkering I want to do now (but can't). I'd still like to find out if that's the case. There are creative pursuits that can take a lifetime however. Eventually you will find and choose what to consume you. My main point is that there is a subset of humans who can never be bored. And it seems that it has no intersection with rich people. If that's indeed true (which I doubt; the world is not so black and white) it would be interesting to find out why. In the end, we all need meaning and some struggle. Shame that most rich people choose to struggle over petty stuff like who has the most expensive watch or who will sleep with the youngest legal boy/girl on that party, or whatever else that signals status. Shame on them that not even one of them tried to become Ironman or Batman.
- plastic3169 4y ago
  Here’s hoping we make it to the otherside and can reflect back to this with experience. TBH I’m sure there are people who have no trouble with these things. It is just common to read experiences from rich and famous in which they say that it is actually quite tricky to live that life (sandwhiched between the obligatory platitudes about how lucky and priviledged they are)

lexapro 4y ago

>I know of no less than 7 separate things I'd lose myself into Consider yourself lucky then. Privileged even. Money is not the only privilege there is.

pdimitar 4y ago
In this case it's bittersweet, sadly. Can never muster the time or energy to devote myself to them because working for the man is way too tiring but also inescapable... And yep I'm grateful that I have a curious nature.

zackmorris 4y ago

The one thing I can't have is rest. I have approximations of rest: coping, procrastinating, dissociating. But the fantasy of achieving rest is something that I've had to let go of, like Sisyphus. After multiple boom-bust cycles and returning to the land of the living after burnout, I feel that the world's problems are caused by people who have too much either being unwilling or unable to empathize with the struggle of others. It's not that I'm jealous of the rich. In fact, I have no real use for money other than to get left alone. And it's not that I'm lazy. In fact, my education, experience and work capacity allow me to take on high workloads. No, the central crisis for me is that my standard of living depends on taking from others. If I want to eat well, wilderness has to be cleared, someone has to pick the food, animals will die. If I want to live well, trees have to get cut down, fossil fuels have to be extracted, people will die mining and refining minerals. All that I do, all that I am, places additional burden on someone else. So I've decided to live modestly, working just enough to keep a roof over my head and drive a vehicle so that I can meet the minimum demands of civilization. If I could, I would give it all back and live in a state of ultimate gratitude and peace. But the wealthy don't do that. They just keep taking more and more and more, giving little or nothing back. Reaching a position of power only to deny it to someone else. Perhaps the ultimate sin besides taking another's life. Profit means that someone didn't pay high enough wages. Inheritance means that resources were stolen from one generation for the next. Philanthropy means that someone didn't pay their taxes, so we had to. Once you've hit rock bottom and see through the veil of illusion, wealth accumulation becomes a repugnant thing. The thing separating one from the divine. The thing that perpetuates the suffering we were born into. The eerie part is, for all that I've experienced and learned, I know that this analysis of the status quo is not the final answer. I have not really had an epiphany. We all arrived here to incarnate as humans and experience the full gamut of suffering and bliss. We have philosophies and religious traditions glorifying suffering, even calling it noble and pious. But I've struggled for so long that it's all I have really known, to the point where I've lost sight of how to improve my situation. But what about the people who have achieved success, who do have the means to make things better? Where are the wealthy people who demand shorter work hours, more automation and time off, more shared prosperity and even UBI? Surely there is at least one willing and able to speak out and step up.

4y ago