Summary
TedTalk: “The Paradox of Choice” by Barry Schwartz
The conclusion is having more choices lead to increase paralyzed and decrease satisfaction so secret to happiness is low expectations.
The premises is having so many choices, can make life harder because one tries to make the perfect decision, which can lead to regret and miss opportunity. This makes one feel paralyzed than feel liberalization.
“From the ‘perfect’ salary to keeping up with the Joneses, here’s how money really affects your happiness” by Cory Stieg
The conclusion is money doesn’t always make you happy and how you make and spend your money has an effect on your happiness.
The premises is that if you want to be happier in your job, you shouldn’t chase a high salary. From a happiness standpoint, it’s more important that your job provides a sense of meaning or purpose and the way you spend your money is really a critical to your happiness.
I agree with the author Cory Stieg, that money doesn’t grantee your happiness and how you make and spend your money has an effect on your happiness. People tend to be more happy when they make money until they reach a certain amount after the happiness stops rising and can fall or stays the same level. Its important that the job you have provides a sense of meaning or purpose because when you work and get paid more than the average, one can start to compare themselves to what others have and those people are just working to survive. When money can help with basic necessities like food, clothing, housing, ect. Then it can make a difference in your life and overall your well being but, at the end of the day we will always have existential issues that money wouldn’t be able to solve.
One thought on “Conversation #5”
Hey Alzura,
Great analysis! I also agree with Cory Stieg. What you’ve mentioned about happiness being decreased or staying stagnant aligns with the “hedonic treadmill” concept in psychology–where it’s in our nature to adapt to new changes and our lives, so money can bring a sense of happiness but that happiness is short lived. I also mentioned that in my post.
You make a valid point that “at the end of the day we will always have existential issues that money wouldn’t be able to solve.” There are greater things like the big questions that we always ask ourselves and that sense of fulfillment that money can’t buy… yet.