A scientific study proposed that money does not make a person happier, but does money make your life easier?

Question

Basically, I just want to find out if an abundance of money makes a persons life easier? I'm not choosing the word happiness because some high rated study recently proved that money does not bring happiness, but the study did not prove nor look for the possibility of making life easier. Now by easier I mean staying alive. Meaning not be dead. Now the situation I chose was a rather simple one. A middle class person passed out and was rushed to the hospital. He was told that he needs a new heart. The hospital says there is one available with same blood type and dimensions. However, his insurance will only pay for a portion of it. The rest he needs to come up with. Lets say it is 50,000 dollars. Lets say he does not have the money. He doesn't get a heart and dies. Now lets say, the same situation occurs, but with a person who does have 50,000 dollars. The man gives the hospital 50,000 and the person gets their heart and lives. Does the person with 50,000 make him better than the other?

Answer 1

Money, as you pointed out without saying, is a tool. No tool every made a person happy, but the ability to use the tool constructively gives a person great deal of personal pleasure (a measure of happiness).

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Why would you need a "Scientific Study" to understand that? Even a rich man can be lonely. Is his life easier? Yes, but it's not really entertaining, meaning you've done just about everything you've wanted to do. And depending on the people under you, a man can even go insane over it. (Micheal Jackson is a great example for starters.) And I bet the blood suckers are out in full force too. And no one is better than the other because you're judging how much they have. A man can have nothing and be king of the world, while another can have everything and be trapped in his own lavishness.

Answer 4

it is obvious that you do not have a lot of money nor do you have any idea how the ETHIC'S of the medical system works.

only people with little money asks if money makes a person happier and it's people with no money that say that money cant buy happiness. why? because it is a way of downplaying something as less important to make yourself shine in a more positive light.

let me tell you this one simple fact 'HAVING MONEY DOES CREATE A HAPPIER PERSON AND DOES BUY HAPPINESS!!!'

now onto your uninformed medical question. the first man gets the heart because he is on the donor list before the other guy with money. fortunately, money does not really play a part when it comes to medical ethics. the first guy gets the heart but will pay for it for the rest of his life. hey, at least if his body rejects the heart, he wont have to be paying that long!?!?!?!? hahahaha! get it? get it? most likely not...you sound like an idiot...a very poor idiot!

Answer 5

of course money makes life easier, if that is not all you are concerned with. however it really can complicate things, Big said it the best "like the more money i got, the more problems i have". having money make lifes basic needs easier. it can free up not having to worry about where you going to sleep, what you going to eat, or in your scenario there, paying for a heart transplant.

however with money comes a whole new set of problems. how am i going to keep it? who is going to rip me off? i have to say not an expert of money problems, at least not having money problems, so that is about the extent i can think of. i will say that seems to be as many drug addicted alcoholics amongst the rich as the poor so money can not make life that much easier.

and of course not, that does not make him a better person.

Answer 6

You misunderstood the study. It's conclusion was not that money does not bring happiness, but that a certain amount, then no more, does not increase happiness. Happiness is, economically, when ones needs and some of ones wants are met. That takes a certain income. $40,000 a year was the break point. That much to be happy; an increase would not make you happier. As for " better ", no. But that answer you needed to know yourself. Next time do your homework!

Answer 7

Your way of thinking of life through a box will essentially do just that; box yourself in.

What is money? Here: I'll hold up an imaginary dollar bill. Just pretend now. 'Kay, there's George Washington's goofy face on one side, there's the ever hypocritical, "In God We Trust", there's some unknown dude's signature; turn to the back and we see an eerie and possibly conspiracy-related pyramid with a freaky looking Eye of Horus on top, there's the good ol' eagle holding some twigs and arrows; AAAND it's all in green ink... So. What does all this mean?

Absolutely nothing.

See, these symbols, these caricatures, and, to a lesser extent, this entire dollar bill has no value outside what we give it. It has no objective, real-world world worth. Its nothing but a piece of paper. And even that statement, respectively, in itself is subjective.

We as humans look at the world through a sort of "value template". It is where our predetermined values of the world, that we've developed through generations of accumulative experiences, are appropriated and fixed in their respective places. To question their worth or place is heresy. In doing this, we've stuck ourselves into train-tracks for life. Where we watch the world pass us by like an amusement park ride as we roller-coaster our way to our final destination without any influence from what we have to say.

This is not a way to live, believe me. This can never bring true happiness because to live like sheep is to repress our instincts to evaluate the world at face value. Our ancestors once did this and so can you. Just question everything you know and everything you think you know. And then re-evaluate the world, or more accurately, your own life, the way you see fit.

Homeless people can be happy like this, can you?

But then again what do I know? I'm just an existentialist, atheist, individualist.

Answer 8

Having money can give you more choices. A wise person will therefore be better off or have an "easier" life.

A fool may make horrible choices and therefore become miserable because of the money.

What determines happiness then would be wisdom or commonsense, rather than just the money.

Answer 9

Yes the person with the 50,000 makes him much better because he gets to live another day and the other ones dies without even an option. its a cruel unfair world thats just that. and yes money does make your life easier. darn it!!

Answer 10

having money would probably give u an easier life. however, you do have to consider how you get that money in the first place. for all you know, in your scenario, the 2nd person fell ill/passed out because of stress. and that might have been due to his attempts to get the money. you have to work really hard to get money, but i think its worth the effort if you are willing to suffer first, then enjoy an easier life later with the money you have earned.