Washed Away By Geoff Williams: Can Money Buy Happiness?

How often do you wake up worrying about money? How often do your loved ones worry about money? How often have you heard, “if only I had the money?” How often do you feel that more money would solve all your problems and would make you happy? What if I told you that you were right, to an extent. Author’s across the discussion of happiness have tried to answer the simply stated, yet complicatedly answered question, “Can Money Buy Happiness?” Authors Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diner attempt to answer the question in their piece of the same name, by explaining that “Yes, money buys happiness…but it must be considered in the bigger picture of what makes people genuinely rich” (Biswas-Diener 160-161). This idea that fiscal wealth is a path to happiness

The author of the article, “You Can Buy Happiness, If It’s An Experience” stated many different ideas and thoughts on happiness. He stated that the anticipation waiting for a trip trumps buying the latest things. He proves multiple studies that show that an experience provides more happiness than the newest iphone. He also states that the build up waiting for a trip is improved due to your imagination. He disproves the saying “money can’t buy you happiness”. I agree with the author, because the points that he makes I have experienced.

Michael Norton, the TED Talk speaker, discussed “How to Buy Happiness.” Norton is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School; he has also studied psychology. Furthermore, Norton did research on whether spending money on oneself or on others can make a person happy. According to him, people who spend money on others are happier than those who spend money on themselves. He wanted to convince his audience that happiness is in sharing or giving to others. First, he gained the attention of his public by starting his speech with humor. Similarly, he has conducted various surveys on how two groups of people, who felt differently, spend money on others like charity or giving gifts from different countries like Uganda and Canada. Although Norton’s attempts at stablishing credibility were somewhat ineffective, his arguments were mostly effect because of his use of logos and pathos.

As Begley “When people buy something they try to pay as little for it as they can” (p. 1). Therefore, I agree that money sometimes can bring happiness while there are a lot of things which people cannot have it with money. The author states that people enjoy when they get something on sale, and they feel happy when they spend less money for. Also, the author mentions how money can affect people who are poor and give them happiness; however, rich people gather money to increase their wealth. Sharon also writes about the survey, which how people consider their happiness.

I agree that money leads to happiness because if you don't have money you can't buy things, you can't go out and do things like go on vacations and do things just to have fun.

The texts, “High incomes don’t bring you Happiness” and “You can buy Happiness, if it’s an Experience”, completes the idea that monetary value does not bring true joy. In the passage, “High incomes don’t bring you Happiness”, the author states that bringing in an over excessive amount of money will not make one happy. The author said that an overall income of around $75,000 will complete one’s emotional well being, while anything over that will complete a life evaluation. Life evaluation is the idea that if one was to look at themselves while they’re in their deathbed, how would they rate their lifestyle. This is also supported through different statements within the passage, “You can buy Happiness, if it’s an Experience”. Within this study, it was proven that people enjoyed money, but often spent it on materialistic items which leaves them with a temporary feeling of satisfaction, while when they are given a fully paid trip to the Bahamas, the feeling of peace and joy lasts far longer than when they were to purchase an item of materialistic value. This

Growing up in a family where both my parents came from poor immigrant backgrounds always made financial success a priority and when there was no need to be frugal, my parents did seem happier. But did money buy my parents’ happiness or did money lead to their happiness? Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener attempt to answer that question in their excerpt “Can Money Buy Happiness,” where they claim that “[m]oney can be a help in attaining psychological wealth, but it should be considered in the bigger picture of what makes people general genuinely rich (Biswas-Diener 161). Although not explicitly defined by Diener and Biswas-Diener, “psychological wealth” is the overall measure of happiness, beyond just fiscal affluence, including positive ties with other individuals and joyful temperaments (Biswas-Diener 168). By extending Biswas-Diener and Diener’s idea of “psychological wealth” to include the perception of what wealth is and what wealth consists of beyond monetary success, such as achievements or fulfillment, there exist a copious number of ways to view wealth. One can be rich in more than finances and happiness is dependent upon the perception of wealth due to money being one of several paths, including deliberate effort and being positive, to “psychological wealth” which leads to happiness.

Many spend hours dreaming of having more money. They believe their quality of life would be better. Everyone has at one point in his or her life thought about how the possession of money would make life worthwhile by generating happiness. However, Benjamin Franklin, a prominent polymath, stated that money in all shapes and forms cannot purchase happiness, an abstract feeling. Franklin believed that the more money an individual possessed the more he or she will want. Although this doctrine has been instilled in the minds of the American people and other cultures for generations, aspects of this philosophy hold to be pragmatic, but viewed from a different perspective, some find this ideology quite absurd.

The saying ‘money can’t buy you happiness’ is very accurate. A key example of this can be seen in many studies done on people’s lives after they win the lottery. Approximately seventy percent of people who win end up unhappy, some even eventually commit suicide. Those with new found wealth often discover some people are only around for their money. According to studies, it’s common for the wealthy to feel that they are superior to people of a lower class, they can also feel a sense of entitlement. These traits can put a strain on their relationships with other people. In the pages that follow this paper will explain that possessing material items such as money, may bring temporary satisfaction, but cannot provide someone with true happiness.

Geoff Williams is no different when he constructed his article to have a large catching title like “Can Money Buy Us Happiness” and tropical destination pictures which tend to peak the curiosity of someone browsing by. Using personable witty humor as an opener to engage his audience its clear he was appealing to pathos. Using scientific studies, quotes, and publishing’s from people distinguished in their fields as well as Mr. Williams himself who credentials lead credence to the argument he has formed gives a strong ethos appeal. Williams constructed his argument stating his argument (buy experiences not material items for happiness), then the opposition’s argument (Material items can make some people happy at least short term) and concluding with a middle ground (buying something for someone else instead of yourself gives you happiness). Ultimately, the strength of pathos appeal in his article was what made his argument so

Everyone wants to live a happy life. Even those people that hate everything about everyone. The trick is how to get that wanted happiness. Is money a way to achieve this happiness? People, philosophers, professors, and ordinary, everyday people have been pondering this age-old question about the relationship between money and happiness and if money can buy happiness for a very long time. Much research and many surveys have been asked and performed by excited researchers and agog economists. A lot of experiments and presentations galore were rendered by inquisitive University professors and intrigued university undergraduates to provide useful data. As it turns out, money can and will buy happiness for everyone that spends it at the right time and on the right things.

It is often said that, “Money can’t buy happiness.” In Cass R. Sunstein’s Yes, Money Can Make You Happy, Sunstein provides a summary and review of Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton’s Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending; he declares that money, when spent wisely and with the right attitude, can provide the most elusive of all human experiences: happiness. In a changing social climate with advances in technology offering unmatched convenience, and a culture in which diverse people with equally diverse sets of values come together, the study of what truly makes us happy is especially relevant now more than ever. While money can certainly be spent in a manner which will create happiness, what Sunstein neglects to address in his writing is that more money does not always equate to more happiness, regardless of how and when it is spent.

The subject of this paper is the age-old question, “Does Money Buy Happiness”. On the surface, this question appears to be an easy one. Happiness however, is a subjective item. To better answer this, several points must be analyzed such as, “What is happiness?”, “How is it measured?” etc. To better streamline this process, a research question was developed:

Landau states that “more money does not necessarily buy more happiness, but less money is associated with emotional pain” meaning money is materialistic and in the long run will not effect long term happiness (Landau 2). Money will buy you something materialistic that will be temporary in your life but after time fades you will eventually get bored until you find something new although it might have left you with some good memories and experience.

We all have heard the phrase “money can’t buy you happiness.” That phrase is a lie because mostly everything in today’s society revolves around money. The things people like revolve around money too. What a coincidence? Let’s say a person is upset so they go buy their favorite ice cream because they know it will make them happy. That person had the money to invest in something that made them happy. Or on an even bigger let’s say someone has been fantasizing about a car and they finally get enough money to purchase their dream car. This person is likely to be very happy. If it was not for the money, they would not have gotten that dream car, so basically the money made them happy. The truth is money makes people happy.