Hacker News Reader

Comment by googlryas | Hacker News Reader

I take issue with the opening statement:

> If anyone knows the secret to happiness, it’s surely the people who have dedicated their careers to studying it

Just because you study something doesn't mean you live the life. There was a fun little study that showed professional ethicists don't act particularly more ethical than the average person:

https://aeon.co/essays/how-often-do-ethics-professors-call-t...

View on HN

I have spent a few years in yoga, self help and spiritual circles and met quite a few well-known "experts" in that area. Since then I am extremely wary of any advice that comes from self-help and spiritual gurus. They are very good at giving advice to others but when you get closer to them you realize that a lot of them are very unhappy people, often vindictive and basically plain assholes. But they know how to say things that sounds good.

I think the truly happy people don't go around and tell others how to be happy. They just are happy.

> I think the truly happy people don't go around and tell others how to be happy. They just are happy.

On the other hand, people who are happy/content see a lot of pain and suffering in other people and might wish to impart some of their own wisdom into the world. At least that’s how I feel sometimes. But if someone is trying to make a profit from the information or advice then it’s probably not coming from a good place and less likely to be legitimately useful.

Computer Scientists aren't particularly good with computers either.

And economists aren't all rich either!

Some are! The ones who had rich parents anyway. Turns out an important habit of successful people, often left off these lists, is being born into wealth.

Wealthy people teach their kids how to manage money for growth and/or preservation.

It's frighteningly easy for someone who has no experience with wealth to squander a fortune very quickly. Look at big lottery winners who spend it all and end up in bankruptcy.

It's more than just inheriting money from your parents; they teach you how to keep it.

Is this your answer to the chicken and the egg question?

Do you think it's possible for a poor family to teach their kids how to manage money for growth?

They may not teach their kids how to manage a family office or a million-dollar stock portfolio, but working-class poor families can teach kids to study hard, hold onto a job, avoid crippling addictions, and save money. If you manage to nail all these, it's relatively easier making the leap to middle class or upper-middle class in one lifetime.

Well, most economists don't study how to get rich. Nonetheless, many study poverty, and since almost none of them live in poverty, your point stands.

Thanks, made me laugh out loud!

Ba mhinic poll i thóin taillúra.

- Irish proverb: There is often a hole in the seat of the tailors pants.

This is the Alan Watts dying of alcoholism at 58 years old. Is that the guy you want to take life advice from?

Studying happiness as an external observer. I'll take the Buddhists advice over these people.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com