People playing the lottery aren't donating money, they are buying the mental image of winning it - just listen to them daydreaming about what they will buy and

People playing the lottery aren't donating money, they are buying the mental image of winning it - just listen to them daydreaming about what they will buy and how they split the money. They might also, with a minuscule chance, have an immediate positive effect on their life via an enormous influx of money to their bank account [0]. This is not at all comparable to donating to science, where the positive effects for oneself are years away, if they materialize at all. It's a completely different mindset. If you can't comprehend this, think about how older people talk about you wasting money on video games with virtual items that are, theoretically, instantly replicated at no cost. Looks stupid on paper, too, but how it makes you feel is why you spend the money. [0] I know that winning the lottery has been bad luck for a lot of people, but people playing the lottery either don't think that far or have "solid" plans for avoiding this fate.