Study Shows Money Makes People Happy only if it makes them Richer than the Next Guy

[rodsky]

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Happiness Is ... Making More Money Than the Next Guy - Yahoo! News

Some of you might say, "old news", but still pretty insightful.

Now I also understand why people feel the need to post tweets or FB status messages that say "I just got a new..." or "I'm going off on a vacation to..." ...it actually makes them HAPPIER, especially if they know I don't have a new thingamagig or I'm not going on a vacation. This study says so.

If you meet someone on the street brandishing a new Blackberry, or a new dress, or a car...it's all about this--they are trying to be happy, or happier than you are.

-RODION

[cptn_star]

so sad to think that people are so materialistic these days...

[rodsky]

so sad to think that people are so materialistic these days...

That's because people have embraced capitalism. Naturally, capitalism will impose such values in your life.

-RODION

[grovestreet]

That's because people have embraced capitalism. Naturally, capitalism will impose such values in your life.

-RODION

there's a great documentary about capitalism's "top guys" engineering such values of consumerism, materialism and superficiality. It was freud's nephew, Edward Bernays doing the mass conditioning on people, so i believe the values being imposed are not as natural as you may think.

YouTube - The Century Of The Self - Happiness Machines 1 of 6

"Among the main characters are Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in advertising. He is often seen as the "father of the public relations industry". Freud's daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as well as Wilhelm Reich, one of the main opponents of Freud's theories.

Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.

The business and, increasingly, the political world uses PR to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. Where once the political process was about engaging people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a society, the documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population. He cites a Wall Street banker as saying "We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs."

[rodsky]

there's a great documentary about capitalism's "top guys" engineering such values of consumerism, materialism and superficiality. It was freud's nephew, Edward Bernays doing the mass conditioning on people, so i believe the values being imposed are not as natural as you may think.

YouTube - The Century Of The Self - Happiness Machines 1 of 6

"Among the main characters are Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in advertising. He is often seen as the "father of the public relations industry". Freud's daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as well as Wilhelm Reich, one of the main opponents of Freud's theories.

Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.

The business and, increasingly, the political world uses PR to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. Where once the political process was about engaging people's rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a society, the documentary shows how by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population. He cites a Wall Street banker as saying "We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs."

That's what I meant when I said "naturally"--I wasn't referring to a state of being "natural", I was using the term to imply that "it follows that", for like what you have just mentioned here in your response, it is indeed something conditioned, rather than something acquired "naturally". We were talking about the word "natural" from two different angles.

-RODION

[mmarabillas]

Money is the rool of all evil.
According to the article, Money makes people happy. So,
Money=sqrt(Evil)
Happiness=Money

Happiness=sqrt(Evil)
Happiness is the root of all evil

hahaha..lingaw..joke lang.

[amnesia]

i think this is the exact reason why its a rarity to find a truly contented human being.. coz no matter what you have or how much you have achieved, most would still want more coz they tend to compare themselves with others whom they think are far more superior than they are..

on the other hand, this can actually be a driving force for others to really wanna succeed..

[lomotel]

superiority complex

[rodsky]

superiority complex

If you check the definition of Superiority Complex...

Superiority complex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...you find out that it has very little to do with this study and/or with this topic.

-RODION

[akimz]

bilib sad ko sa mga dagkong tae . . . they shape the society that way . . . so sad lang palandungon kng mao na ang ilang hapiness . . . it must start in our inner self . . .

Desire and attachment causes us unsatisfactoriness and suffering