The Pleasure Paradox By Mike Copeland

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.

Use your money for buying experiences not material items. Geoff Williams, a frequent writer for U.S News & World Report and author of several books wrote an article in U.S News & World Report entitled “Can Money Buy Us Happiness”. In this article Williams writes about the difference between buying material items and buying experiences and which brings you happiness including the possibility that a third option, buying something for someone else and not yourself is possible for buying happiness. At any rate, whether you choose material items or vacation memories, your long term happiness is at stake. Williams used ethical and emotional appeals to persuade his intended audience that buying experiences will enhance you long term happiness.

She begins with stating that money does not and cannot fill a person’s basic psychological needs (Rubin 295). Rubin goes on to claim that we do take daily things, like air conditioning and a car, for granted and we do not know how good we have something until it is gone. She does offer a solution to our problem; which is spend money wisely. As long as we know how to use and spend money we can be happy. Rubin brings out the topic of spending out.

Members of every socioeconomic bracket can and do deluge themselves with products” (Hill,4). conclusion, we don’t need much stuffs. Rebuttal: “Intuitively, we know that the best stuff in life isn’t stuff at all, and that relationships, experiences and meaningful work are the staples of a happy life” (Hill,27). Because it shows all the evidences to the audience, however, the audience might be only limited on the middle class and rich people. If the author can show more evidence about all people can be happier even they don’t have a rich life, it would be more

As I read the article about happiness I noticed a lot of logos along the way, she used a lot of facts to back up her argument about why happiness is healthy and the benefits it has. She uses the example of the identical and fraternal twins, "Research has shown that identical twins tend to have similar level of happiness more so than fraternal twins." (Landau 12). According to the author this means that happiness truly comes from your genes. Also, the fact that identical twins can almost sense each other's level of happiness. Her research was related to happiness but it didn't help me understand the main concept of why happiness is healthy. Then she introduces a stronger point with a cliche that states, "money doesn't buy happiness". Using this as her naysayer, this actually helps her in proving why money can't really buy you happiness. She claims, "emotional well-being rises with income up to a point, which seems to be a household income of $75,000. Day-to-day happiness did not increase with higher incomes....Their results show a sharp destitution between how people see

Psychologist James Hamblin believes that happiness comes from experiences that occur in life rather than the materials life has to offer. In other words, a person will be happier in the long run going on vacation rather than buying a new phone. Hamblin’s article creates an argument in hopes of encouraging people to enjoy the moments in life and not the big or little things. Hamblin argues that ‘if you pay for an experience, like a vacation, it will be over and gone; but if you buy a tangible thing, a couch, at least you 'll have it for a long time” (Hamblin 2014). A person may be able to buy something and have it in possession for a long period of time,

Many would say money is the most influential force in any decision. In the article “Forget money: how I found real worth when I stopped caring about getting rich” by Tom Bilyeu, the author discusses the notion about the role money has in finding happiness. The informational article “The creation of Discontent” by Juliet Schor, follows this idea by explaining that the more luxury items we purchase, the more discontent we become. However, in the contrasting article “In Defense of Consumerism” by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., the writer counters by emphasizing the beneficial effects of commerce such as the increase in standard of living. Consumerism is critical to improve quality of life and allows people to find happiness Consumerism is important

In Money Can't Buy Love: Asymmetric Beliefs about Gift Price and Feelings of Appreciation by Francis Flynn and Gabrielle Adams, they talk deeply about the amount of gifts that people buy. For instance millions of Americans are always buying items and gifts every single day. It is especially this way during the month of December when shoppers “spent over $30 billion at retail stores”(Flynn and Adams 5). The massive amount of shopping for gifts for people who may not even like them is considered a bad habit to economists. People buy things for people who wouldn’t normally buy those things to begin with. It represents a waste in resources and is “referred to as ‘the deadweight loss of Christmas’” which is because people tend to overspend on gifts

Although Americans do look better and feel better with the extravagant items they purchase, money doesn’t buy happiness for long term goals. Like many will argue, like Atlantic senior editor Derek Thompson did in his 2013 article, “Yes, Money Does Buy Happiness: 6 Lessons on the Newest Research on Income and Well-Being,” money can only buy happiness for short term goals; it won’t last very long for everyone and it could lead to worse scenarios when the money is gone. Thompson (2013) included statistics on richer countries that are proven to be happier, explaining, “First, the lines go up. More money, more happiness. Second, the lines go up in parallel, more or less. Across language, culture, religion, ethnic background, the same amount of extra money seems to buy the similar amount of extra happiness.” Thompson (2013) found the same similar pattern in many other countries and concluded that they are more happy than poorer countries. Although poorer countries don’t have as many resources or many things like richer countries do, Seth Borenstein, in his 2017 article for The Independent, “Norway Beats Denmark to be Named the Happiest Country in the World by the UN,” can beg to differ. Borenstein (2017) says, “While most countries were either getting happier or at least treading water, America's happiness score dropped 5 per cent over the past decade” (Borenstein, 2017). That shows that America, one of the richest

In his article The Funds, Friends, and Faith of Happy People David G. Myers analyzes results of different surveys and researches in attempt to answer the question: “does money make people happier?” The conclusion suggests they do not. While many people have an opposite opinion, facts show the correlation between money and happiness weakens with the increase of income.

Affective motives deal with the need to reach satisfying feeling states and to obtain personal goals (Hawkins, 2010). Another shopping situation on my personal consumption is line 15 page 2, April 14, 2012, my family on an impulse spent $143.07 dollars on recreational products. Even after this shopping situation, I could not understand how or why I allowed my family that is trying to save money spend so much of it. However slowly understanding our purchasing behaviors, I can understand that it relates to the need for tension reduction and some hedonic shopping motives. People encounter situations in their daily lives that create uncomfortable levels of stress. In order to effectively manage tension and stress, people are motivated to seek ways to reduce arousal. Recreational products and activities are often promoted in terms of tension relief (Hawkins, 2010). After closely observations of my consumption journal, I think most of our purchasing

Whoever said money can’t buy happiness? Today, the argument can be made that happiness and consumerism are directly linked. It is fair to say that happiness is a relative term for different people. However, the obtaining of new and shiny things has become such a part of everyday life, that it provides happiness when people are purchasing something new, and causes sadness when no buying is taking place. For many, it seems to be a protective coating against the harsh realities of everyday stresses from a job, or family life.

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.

In the book “Money can buy Happiness” tells about spending money on important and substantial things that bring us long lasting happiness. It provide some helpful information and tips which can be applied in our daily living. If you want to find out how to put together the most of your money in order to get a good and happy life (good return on investment). This book also creates awareness of how we spend our money, investments and savings wisely. For those who wants to analyze whether their spending habits align with their values, this book can be an eye opener for them.

When you hear the word happiness, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think of material possessions like designer clothes and accessories, the newest iPhone with the highest possible storage capacity, or a shiny red supercar? Do you think the amount of money you have or your current financial status has an effect on how happy you are? Plenty of college students, myself included, would associate happiness with possessing items like these or just having a lot of money in general. In today’s society, one common belief about social class is that the richer and more money or things that one has, the happier this will make them. This belief is reinforced by countless advertisements we see and hear everywhere, whether that be on