Counterpoint: The true value of a lotto ticket is dreaming about hitting the jackpot. Bigger, less winnable jackpots increase the dream-value of the tickets.
For myself, I'm uncertain how much of a fantasy it would really be to suddenly hold ~$1B (though I obviously wouldn't hesitate to try..). But have you ever played a video game, then discover an exploit or cheat code to give you everything you want, then realize how boring and pointless it became relatively soon afterwards?
Part of me wonders if shuffling all the way across Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the real world would have the same psychological effect. I think we crave a certain comfortable level of struggle.
I don't think that's a great comparison. You've removed the point of the game by cheating, but the point of life isn't "accrue $1 billion".
For years, my greatest fear has been to win the lottery because of that reason exactly. I don't know what I would do with my life. And it would cause all sorts of stress among friends, family members and potentially strangers.
Regardless, I still bought a ticket.
I think it's part of the worry people have had for ages and ages: what do you do idle? Do you find things to do? Or just stop doing things? Or do you create and/or learn a skill? Do you work harder to leverage it all for power?
All those things you enjoy and do without question or thought, or wanted to try, those are the things that you do.
`Mo Money Mo Problems` is true if you use your money to buy things, celebrity, social/political status. It's not true if you start an incubator with no expected returns, start a charity, etc.
Probably the same reason people found startups.
Calling the game a ripoff is unfair. Ripoff is a deception, yet Powerball is completely honest about its mechanism.
Participants understand that they are playing a game with a low chance of winning, but they do get a lot of value out of the ticket. Otherwise, with so much information available, why would they play?
If we worry about participants not being able to "understand" these sorts of large odds, we might be better off worrying over much graver yet common situations. Do we understand the price of not paying attention in elementary school math class? The pitfalls of not having various kinds of insurance? Or even driving on the freeway?
I see poor people lined up at my local convenient store, spending considerable amounts of their money on scratch offs and lottery tickets. They actually don't understand or are addicted, and the gov doesn't care, so long as they're getting money out of it. Who's going to regulate the regulators? It's not like the State limits how many you can buy.
What are the alternatives? I'm sure they enjoy it, but that's part of addiction -- not being able to delay pleasure in the present for future rewards. They could save their money, buy new clothes, get some dental work done, etc. I'm not saying we force them or that we should deny people ostensibly-wasteful pleasures--a drink is fine every now and then, but when someone goes over the edge into full-blown alcoholism, I think society should extend a helping hand.
If the government should stay out of the bedroom of consenting adults, why not stay out of their wallets as well?
Care of ikeboy on the lottery simulator thread.