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>A life spent mostly hoarding money and possessions is a wasted life I find it interesting that an article whose tone is one of optimism is so judgmental.

PavlovsCat 13y ago
If you see something wrong with that statement, why not point it out? If someone said getting hooked on heroin and dying with 16 is a waste of a life, would you consider that judgemental, too? To me it's just obvious that people often confuse symbols and things, and not only hoard possessions and money, but other symbols as well. And if I forget that for a while, the advertisement geared towards them reminds me. If that is being judgemental, so be it. I like to think it as being unable to miss certain things.
paraschopra 13y ago
I wasn't being judgmental, mere factual. My hypothesis is that people want to maximize happiness/well-being and hoarding money and possessions is a suboptimal way of doing that. On a slightly related note, Sam Harris has written an excellent book 'The Moral Landscape' where he argues that science and scientists __should__ be judgmental towards morals and life choices.
ashray 13y ago
I think the takeaway is that life would be best spent finding out what it is that truly makes you happy and then pursuing that. A lot of people think 'more money' is the answer to that. More money is just a way to be able to pursue whatever you think will truly make you happy. Whether that's kayaking, kung-fu, dancing, golfing, getting laid, going out for dinner, going on vacation, etc. A means, not the end. Some people just lose the plot on the way and continue down the more money path forever. Those are the people who end up living to work and not working to live.
- lucaspiller 13y ago
  > A lot of people think 'more money' is the answer to that. I'm don't believe this is true, at least directly. I believe people start out thinking that they just need to make X amount of money to fulfil their dreams. The problem is once they start earning money they start changing their lifestyle to match it. Once they are in this situation it is hard to give up the restaurants, cars and houses to chase their dream. As such they decide they want fancier restaurants, fancier cars and even bigger houses which requires more money. It's sad, but people who are comfortable are unlikely to change much, even if the result would make them a lot happier.
tluyben2 13y ago
Well, it's a truth most people realise later in life. If someone would've told me that when I was 22, I wouldn't have believed it. Actually, if someone would've said that exact sentence to me, I would've believed it, but I didn't think I was doing that. In hindsight, I was. I realised it early enough luckily.

PavlovsCat 13y ago

If you see something wrong with that statement, why not point it out? If someone said getting hooked on heroin and dying with 16 is a waste of a life, would you consider that judgemental, too? To me it's just obvious that people often confuse symbols and things, and not only hoard possessions and money, but other symbols as well. And if I forget that for a while, the advertisement geared towards them reminds me. If that is being judgemental, so be it. I like to think it as being unable to miss certain things.

paraschopra 13y ago

I wasn't being judgmental, mere factual. My hypothesis is that people want to maximize happiness/well-being and hoarding money and possessions is a suboptimal way of doing that. On a slightly related note, Sam Harris has written an excellent book 'The Moral Landscape' where he argues that science and scientists __should__ be judgmental towards morals and life choices.

ashray 13y ago

I think the takeaway is that life would be best spent finding out what it is that truly makes you happy and then pursuing that. A lot of people think 'more money' is the answer to that. More money is just a way to be able to pursue whatever you think will truly make you happy. Whether that's kayaking, kung-fu, dancing, golfing, getting laid, going out for dinner, going on vacation, etc. A means, not the end. Some people just lose the plot on the way and continue down the more money path forever. Those are the people who end up living to work and not working to live.

lucaspiller 13y ago
> A lot of people think 'more money' is the answer to that. I'm don't believe this is true, at least directly. I believe people start out thinking that they just need to make X amount of money to fulfil their dreams. The problem is once they start earning money they start changing their lifestyle to match it. Once they are in this situation it is hard to give up the restaurants, cars and houses to chase their dream. As such they decide they want fancier restaurants, fancier cars and even bigger houses which requires more money. It's sad, but people who are comfortable are unlikely to change much, even if the result would make them a lot happier.

tluyben2 13y ago

Well, it's a truth most people realise later in life. If someone would've told me that when I was 22, I wouldn't have believed it. Actually, if someone would've said that exact sentence to me, I would've believed it, but I didn't think I was doing that. In hindsight, I was. I realised it early enough luckily.