Ask HN: The Lottery Question | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: The Lottery Question

1 pointQuinzel2 comments

Morse & Weiss (1955) asked 400 male US employee’s the lottery question; “if you won the lottery today, would you continue to work?”. Back then, 80% answered yes. Over time, the study has been replicated and Non-Financial Employment Committment has dropped, and it’s also different depending on Country.

I’m curious when you remove financial motivation what else is left? So thought I’d Ask HN the same question. (In a not-so-scientific, and informal way).

So…

If you won the lottery today, would you continue to work?

If yes, Why?

Would you continue in the same job? If yes, Why?

I’m not doing this as a poll because 1. I am interested in people’s qualitative responses and 2. I can’t do polls.

No.

Many people work their entire lives trying to keep on top of bills; others spend their entire lives saving for a retirement they may not live to see. So if income was no longer a concern, I'd quit tomorrow & focus on what to do with the rest of my life. Some of that time would be spent pursuing interests & hobbies that I never had time for. And if the amount of money I won was more than I could reasonably expect to spend in one lifetime, I'd also be spending time on how to make that money work best for local charitable institutions.

Also, you said "when you remove financial motivation what else is left?". If you're only motivated to improve your own situation then, yeah, sure, I can see one's motivation evaporating by winning the lottery. But if you see it as an opportunity to help not only yourself, but others as well... well, there's a lot of people out there that could use a helping hand.

I guess it depends what you mean by work. Would I work at my current job or another such job in the industry? No. Would I work for anyone else in general? No, probably not.

But I'd probably immediately try to start a company or other ambitious project with a decent chunk of the proceeds, simply because I can't ever be happy just relaxing and doing nothing.

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