this so true. I began giving to charity years ago & it led me to become involved with volunteer work for a local children's hospital that treated kids w/ cancer. 3 years later I was diagnosed w/ stage IV metastatic cancer & after treatment & surgery I was told I would not survive. b/c I had been involved w/ that charity I found it impossible to feel sorry for myself. Miraculously today I am cancer free & my docs believe my positive mindset was a big reason. happiness begins when selfishness ends
I feel like this is something that has been obvious to me since I was a child. When you give something to someone you remove focus from yourself and are "present" pun intended, and able to improve someone else's happiness. And I think regardless of whether it is your own or someone else's money as long as it is proportionate to your budget you'd still be happy giving it away. Most people can afford giving away a dollar or 50 cent equivalent in there own specific currency w/o major ramification
It doesn't even matter if it's money. I'm a broke college student. I make a lot of the things I give away. It still makes me happy to see someone has enjoyed and used something I made for them.
A great example of service to self vs. service to others! Service to self is based in ego, fear & separation consciousness. This is NOT our true nature. Anything that takes us away from our true nature make us unhappy. Service to others is based in spirit, love & oneness/unity consciousness. This IS our true nature. Anything that brings us closer to our true nature makes us happy. As happy people living from our true essence we have a higher vibration which attracts high-vibrating things to us.
I need to say something for my English class, this video shows an experiment that tries to show that spending money on other people generates more happiness than spending it on itself, I agree because money is used as a means to socialize or help people, giving a personal satisfaction.
Michael talked about how to buy happiness. He showed us some experiments, which are very impressive. We don’t need to do amazing things with our money to make ourselves happy. We can do just small, trivial things. I need to think how to spend money on others rather than myself.
The pattern I see from this is that money spent just on Things seems to be wasted. On the other hand, spending money on someone else is a rewarding social Experience. I would have thought just distinguishing between Things and Experiences would hold the answer. It's doing cool stuff rather than having cool stuff that makes me happy.
I'm typing up a thesis right now on this same topic, and, I've learned from all the people that I've interviewed (giving them the option of $10 million dollars) they really have no desire for anything that would cost more than $200,000. I related this same analogy to the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech about how it can't. I beg to differ; it can, you just have to spend it right.
My literal first thought is making sure my family (including myself) are comfortable with their living status. Then donate and/or create a No Kill animal shelter. I'm pretty sure I would still be happy even though I spent some on myself.
To those people asking what would happen if you had to spend your own money on others: He did show the map of people who had donated money to charity lately and their general happiness and he asked people for the last time the'd spend money for others. In none of these examples did the researchers give them extra money.
after watching this video I decided that I should try this and see how it feels for myself, so I went to a buddy's house today and ordered us pizza. when the delivery girl got there I gave her a $10 tip. the look on her face truly made me smile. Earlier tonight while i was a work a man came in and got a small coffee. It cost $1.47 the man gets in his wallet and pulls out a $5 and says put the rest of that in your pocket. I can honestly say this has been one of the best days of the past 3 months.
I didn't find the results from this study too surprising ... but I can see interesting ground for further development. Such as noting the intentions of the people who give money and then their happiness. Do people who spend in a (selfish) socially strategic way end up being happier then those who do not spend it for a particular selfish reason? And the difference between giving to strangers and friends? However, I am always wary of the word happiness and how one can measure such a thing..
I agree 100%. Spending your disposable income on charitable means rather than personal gratification does bring about more fulfillment. However, charity is only charity if it is voluntary.
reading the comments there are a lot of people questioning this experiment's results. To test it, try one of the following; go out and buy someone a gift they would appreciate, donate to a cause or simply compliment someone genuinely/do a deed for someone. All are forms of compassion. Guarantee you will feel good about yourself and about the person you helped.
I once spent the rest of my money to buy my mom a potted plant for her birthday. It made us both very happy... until mom realized that I went broke because of that and she would have to give me some money so that I could have lunch at school. But the happiness still lingered for about a week.
I've always imagined it would make me happy to be John Beresford Tipton, who gave away a million dollars to someone at the beginning of each episode of "The Millionaire." This TEDtalk confirms my belief. All I have to do is somehow get that kind of money in the first place. P.S. That TV series was shown in the 1950s, when a million dollars was worth something!
They do. 3 ways money buys happiness that I'm aware of: 1) To meet to standard cost of living/essentials. This doesn't by happiness per se - it enables it by decreasing stress. 2) By spending it on experiences. 3) By giving it away. The best way to do this is by giving smaller amounts out more often. However, it's hard to say which is most important - would you still be happy about giving away $500 if you can't pay rent? This video seems to suggest that, but I'm a bit skeptical.
Giving is receiving unless your ego is too overinflated, to realize it, it's a positive act whenever you forget about yourself you're so much happier. Many cultures, and religious doctrines have been aware of this for a long time. That doesn't mean they practice it though ha.
In fact I think if this was given out of pocket people would've even been more pleased with the results. When you give away things that are dear it's even more pleasing because you prove to yourself that physical objects do not control your state of happiness. You take it back for yourself when, in other-words when you give away the money it loses some of that selfish grip it has on you.
I give money to charity sometimes but I never feel happy about it. I still do it out of a sense of obligation but it's like washing the dishes or eating healthily, something that's no fun to do but has to be done anyway.
Exactly. The number of potential confounding effects is huge. It does not sound like they controlled for anything in the correctional studies in various countries. The causality could be reversed but there could also easily be other factors that both increased happiness and willingness to spend on others. Luckily they didn't present a correlation study alone, but actually did experiment with making people spend money in different ways.
Agreed, some of the experiments, such as the allegorical surveys were lacking in rigor, but the more controlled experiments where they instructed them on how to spend seem to imply the correlation.
this vid provided me insight. sometimes people have to experience it first for themselves especially by obtaining money through their own hard work. I can imagine why many countries on the map are not significantly green because people there are struggling financially to some extent. for the countries with population that are well off, they probably define giving as buying a good product from a company, which is also in a sense giving away money instead of stashing it away.
well to start off i've always said that money cant buy u happiness..only if u spend it wrong. honestly if i ever win the powerball i already know that im giving half or more to others, not charity cuz dont like the idea of not seeing where my money is going but i would give it to ppl on the streets, go some department store and pay off ppl's debt idk something along those lines, i'll do it not for the media attention but for the sheer fact that i am improving others lifes, even in a small way
it also depends on personality. some ppl are just selfish& would be happier to spend it on themselves than others. others are more generous & find happiness in sharing with others. I thnk it also depends on WHO you're giving it to. The happiness level is probably greater if spend it on someone who really needs it or someone you really care for vs. someone/some cause you're less passionate about. Also, is the money spent directly or through a third party &how appreciative is the person receiving
I wonder what the results would be if instead of money they ¨gave time¨ to other people. I´m more on the nerd side of things but I often enjoy a lot more helping friends on whatever type of problems just to be with them. I think the point of this video is a little mistaken, since I think that when people were given money to give to other people they just socialized more, which in turn was what made them happier and not the act of giving in itself.
Spending money for someone is really important. Buying gift for your friends, your parents and someone. As see long life we must be happy.😻 I was inspired this speech.!!
Money is one of the things that's talked about most in the Bible because it's such a basic human desire to quantify the things around us. Money is a measure for success, and a measure for happiness, and what you do with money is such a huge indicator of where your heart is. Selfless with money leads to spiritual happiness, no matter what you believe.
Absolutely correct. The thing to remember, is that this type of data has been replicated in a variety of settings with varying measures. Together, it seems to suggest with reasonable certainty that giving/donating is associated with a short elevation in mood at the very least. Long term is much harder to prove because of the endless confounders that arise in long periods. Nevertheless, it highlights a very interesting concept - 'altruism' makes us happier. But does altriusm really exist?
Some of the most happy , considerate , honest & fun people to be around have a profound financial disadvantage . & some of the meanest , unhappy , dishonest & inconsiderate people to be around are at a financial advantage .. WEiRD how that works ..
Because I'm broke and in college and have a ton of allergies... I.E. it would be impossible for me to donate 90% of what I don't have... Not to mention I would die trying to do it. No point in dying when living will help many more.
I thought about that, and it would make sense if considering only one person. However, because there is a constant stream of people dying, charities would be receiving more money while the general public loses the same amount. You can think of it in terms of momentum as well: at first charities would lose money, but after a few decades there would be a significant increase in donations that would quickly overcome the amount lost during the first years.
Humans have an innate need to give and contribute. For those who can't create as readily as artists, money is the easy option. I'm happy when I buy high-quality paints and tools for my craft, but even happier when I create personalized gifts for friends and family.
I think that if it was your own personal money, then the act of giving it away is more rewarding. I would like to note though that giving money away to someone you can physically see is much more rewarding then just giving it to someone without seeing them (personal experience)
I think it does, but that it does also have to do with an amount. $5 or $20 isn't much of anything. It can only be short term gain. But if you gave me like a few hundred thousand, I could make myself way happier by paying off my house than by giving it all to charity. I'd feel great giving it all away, but how long would that feeling last? A few months at best? A fleeting feeling thinking about it? Paying off my house would make me WAY happier because I wouldn't have a mortgage to stress over.
Giving money away to random people for which you couldn't care less about doesn't make you happier. However, giving money or resources to those whom you value and cherish can bring joy into one's life.
My point is simple... You shouldn’t not care about someone just because you don’t know someone. And it’s up to ourselves to realize that if we did get to know that person, chances are that we would care about them (like we should)!
I find this to be true; if you spend your money on something you know will have good results, in return you will be happy. For instance the charity donorschoose, you know what the outcome of your purchase will be to the students. That is how money can buy happiness.
money only buys the greedy happyness, to everyone else, knowing you made someone happy or even save their life, is more satisfying than knowing you only helped yourself.
i'm not trying to be a smartass or anything but maybe u should try to give the money in person. i did that and the appreciation they showed made me happy.
Spending time on some one seems more universally rewarding than spending money. Perhaps we have internalized the sentiment “time is money” much to the detriment our personal and societal well being!
Thank you!! I'm cultivating positivity and peace in myself but I still haven't mastered being totally happy bec. I attribute it to external sources.. but this made me think and feel better...
@peluffodaniele True but keep in mind is experiment applies to people who have the money to spend to begin with. If you're in poverty, sure you'd like to buy things for friends and family but if you can't even afford to keep up your own personal lifestyle then you won't be happy losing money you need, especially if nobody gives you anything in return.
ah, but you forget that at least for the Vancouver college kids, the business teams, and the dodgeball teams, the researchers TOLD the groups whether or not to spend it on themselves or others/pro-socially, therefore eliminating the possibility of happier people choosing to be more emphatic.
I would be interested to see what the happiness data is on the people who *received* the gifts as well. I know that my personal happiness improves when I receive a gift from someone, especially an unexpected one, though perhaps not as much as it would on buying a gift for another. Happiness isn't a zero-sum game, which can make for some interesting results when mutual happiness is considered in the trials.
I see your point. Though I think many people see the money as their own, thus somewhat validating the experiment. It certainly isn't perfect though. I wonder how else they might go about studying people's attitudes towards spending?
O que ele defende em sua apresentação no TED é que o dinheiro só não nos traz felicidade quando somos egoístas em relação a ele. Norton sugere que se gastássemos mais dinheiro em benefício de outras pessoas ou doássemos mais, nossa felicidade seria maximizada. Para comprovar sua teoria, o pesquisador fez um experimento interessante com dois grupos de estudantes universitários. Ao primeiro, deu entre 5 e 15 dólares para que cada aluno gastasse consigo mesmo. Ao segundo, entregou a mesma quantia e pediu-lhes que gastassem o valor comprando produtos e serviços para outras pessoas. O resultado mostrou que não importa a quantidade de dinheiro que você gaste: esses gastos farão você mais feliz se beneficiarem outras pessoas. Isso explica por que boa parte das pessoas que ganha na loteria tem uma vida infeliz, diz Norton. “O dinheiro nos traz péssimas amizades e também nos deixa egoístas. Por isso, pessoas que têm o costume de doar são mais felizes”.
One thing is certainly true: People are not happy when you force them to spend their own money on others. They will be happier when they give of their own free will.
You can't be happy if you're only selfish. Go on, try being completely selfish, and see how happy you really are. The reason is because you can't completely satisfy your own desires. It's endless.
Well, you'd have to define what "selfish" means. You are either only excessively concerned with yourself (egocentric), or you are not. And you can't possibly be happy if you're completely selfish and egocentric. That's just how it goes. Being selfish doesn't actually benefit you, but rather destroys you. Only satisfying your desires won't benefit you in the end.
Around 6:45 he mentions that their data suggests people who donate money from their own pocket are happier in almost every country in the world compared to people who don't donate
If I had some money I wouldn't mind helping others, I always have but right now with the economy so bad and no work I'm struggling to make end meet. I'm still blessed and count my blessings everyday. God Bless and Good luck to all,
7 minutes into this and i was thinking yeah whatever what's new we've heard a lot about how philanthropy makes the giver happy blah blah blah until towards the end of the video, i realize my framework for viewing helping others is the problem. maybe this presentation isn't entirely original but it makes me wonder how my life would change if i saw "giving" differently and incorporate it into my daily life.
I think that this has big implications in the dynamics of team work... we are hardwired to take pleasure out of our own altruistic behavior even if trivial like buying someone coffee, although counter intuitive in most situations it improves the group dynamics... evolution carved this in to our nature to make us work in more effective groups but it also gave us a big brain that prefers selfish choices in order to preserve our individuality... cool!
I don't think their study measured what they thought they were measuring. They weren't measuring the effect of spending money on other people to their own self-assessed feeling of happiness. They were measuring the effect of spending _someone_else's_ money on other people versus upon themselves. There are 4 ways to spend money: My money on myself, my money on someone else, someone else's money on myself, someone else's money on someone else. Guess why politicians love to spend public money?
I completely agree with what he's saying, but it seems to me that far too many of us are stuck in this vicious circle of trading our time for money doing things that can, at the end of the day, feel rather meaningless.... and then we complain that our lives feel empty. If we can realize that the path to happiness lies in sharing that money with others isn't the next step realizing that we can skip the middle man (money) and simply give our time which is just as fulfilling if not more so? When you really think about it more than anything else doesn't money represent a lack of trust in others? What purpose does it serve otherwise? Maybe the joy we feel when we give to others lies in finding that trust again? So what would complete trust feel like? You hear over and over again yes, but you have to be cautious... yes, but you have to protect yourself.... yes, but.... What would we look like if we could get rid of that yes, but? Really think about what Jesus had to say and ask if he was talking about doing away with that yes, but? Turn the other cheek? Love your enemies as you love yourself? Treat the least among you as you would treat me? Give all you have to the poor and follow me? Is there a yes, but in any of those?
3 myths created to give a sense of comfort and justice and to keep people docile: 1) Money does not buy happiness. 2) What goes around comes around. 3) Greedy selfish jerks can't be happy.
I feel that the reason that people we're happier is because of cognitive dissonance. They didn't get immediate pleasure from they're purchase thus because the idea of spending money and not getting the immediate pleasure is similar to buying stuff for other people (since you're not getting the pleasure of lets say drinking a soda) buying stuff for other people would cause anxiety. To relieve this anxiety in turn our brains would find pleasure in giving to others. Just my analysis.
i'm not convinced about the whole 'money can buy happiness.. it just depends on how you spend it'. What about the act of giving itself, what's the worth of that in the whole study? For example, if I had a cup of coffee and I gave it to someone, i imagine it would have the same impact as using the $5 to buy it.
For me this is true, I feel much happier when I give money or stuff away especially to those who are less fortunate than I. If you have an open hand to give more will return to you, again true in my life.
Except the part where they randomly gave college students money and told them how to find it. It's pretty difficult to argue that the sample who were told to spend prosocially were more happy at the outset, and they probably compared the pretest scores to ensure that.
Great insight into the value of Charitable Giving. Thanks TED for another great learning opportunity. Michael Norton nailed the power of being happy. #CastYourBread #ImaginIf DND
I've spent plenty of money on other people, perhaps too much, it didn't help me in the slightest. Now I'm broke and depressed. Context is everything, this study needs a lot of work.
I would love to see this based on higher amounts over a longer time: Give some people like $1,000,000 to give to any charity;and others $250,000 to buy/pay off a decent home. Short term, I bet the people that give away $1,000,000 feel amazingly happy. Long term, I bet the people that have a home and don't need to worry about a mortgage are happier, and I would be the people that gave away the million grumble and say, "I wish I could have had a little bit of that money for myself."
You're not writing this for me? Im part of the public youve decided to share your philosophy with. A philosophy which enforces caste systems, original sin, and general apathy towards the less fortunate, as in effect 'they deserve it' is the logical outcome of belief in Karma. Cheers
I tend to be dubious about any experiment that involves self reporting "happiness", espeically if you are checking it several hours after the act itself.
Or at least the recipient needs to THINK it is an open-hearted gift... And let me see if I have this right: Seeking your own happiness is selfish. Giving with an open heart is an intentional act that tends to bring happiness. Therefore, intentional giving with an open heart is selfish. There is something self-contradictory in your philosophy. Find it and you will be happier. :)
That doesn't mean it's not from their pocket. And we know anyway that even if they did design a different experiment, using earned money, there will still be a group of people like that guy above that will pick holes at it. It isn't about their methodology, it's about not wanting to accept things that don't agreed with your worldview.
Perhaps giving people money is a controlled way of measuring the results of an experiment. A dollar is not equal in value to everyone. Person A's dollar might mean more to him than Person B's, depending on how they came by it and how much money they have or need.
this so true. I began giving to charity years ago & it led me to become involved with volunteer work for a local children's hospital that treated kids w/ cancer. 3 years later I was diagnosed w/ stage IV metastatic cancer & after treatment & surgery I was told I would not survive. b/c I had been involved w/ that charity I found it impossible to feel sorry for myself. Miraculously today I am cancer free & my docs believe my positive mindset was a big reason. happiness begins when selfishness ends
Thank you for sharing your story Jack, another testimony that can prove a doctor's diagnose wrong. Well done!
"Money can't buy happiness"? That is not said very well. But "Money is no guarantee of happiness" - much more precise.
I feel like this is something that has been obvious to me since I was a child. When you give something to someone you remove focus from yourself and are "present" pun intended, and able to improve someone else's happiness. And I think regardless of whether it is your own or someone else's money as long as it is proportionate to your budget you'd still be happy giving it away. Most people can afford giving away a dollar or 50 cent equivalent in there own specific currency w/o major ramification
It doesn't even matter if it's money. I'm a broke college student. I make a lot of the things I give away. It still makes me happy to see someone has enjoyed and used something I made for them.
Thank you all for the positive comments
Act 20:35 "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving."
"The best money I ever spent was buying beer for my friends."
-The poet
That got me a misty eye :)
a very important aspect which we need to consider, when you spend money on others it makes you feel better BUT THOSE WERE NOT YOUR MONEY.
A great example of service to self vs. service to others! Service to self is based in ego, fear & separation consciousness. This is NOT our true nature. Anything that takes us away from our true nature make us unhappy. Service to others is based in spirit, love & oneness/unity consciousness. This IS our true nature. Anything that brings us closer to our true nature makes us happy. As happy people living from our true essence we have a higher vibration which attracts high-vibrating things to us.
I need to say something for my English class, this video shows an experiment that tries to show that spending money on other people generates more happiness than spending it on itself, I agree because money is used as a means to socialize or help people, giving a personal satisfaction.
Same
Michael talked about how to buy happiness. He showed us some experiments, which are very impressive. We don’t need to do amazing things with our money to make ourselves happy. We can do just small, trivial things. I need to think how to spend money on others rather than myself.
The pattern I see from this is that money spent just on Things seems to be wasted. On the other hand, spending money on someone else is a rewarding social Experience. I would have thought just distinguishing between Things and Experiences would hold the answer. It's doing cool stuff rather than having cool stuff that makes me happy.
Right you are ninjabob2456
I'm typing up a thesis right now on this same topic, and, I've learned from all the people that I've interviewed (giving them the option of $10 million dollars) they really have no desire for anything that would cost more than $200,000. I related this same analogy to the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech about how it can't. I beg to differ; it can, you just have to spend it right.
"Pay it forward" came to mind as well as an extended version of this talk.
My literal first thought is making sure my family (including myself) are comfortable with their living status. Then donate and/or create a No Kill animal shelter. I'm pretty sure I would still be happy even though I spent some on myself.
To those people asking what would happen if you had to spend your own money on others: He did show the map of people who had donated money to charity lately and their general happiness and he asked people for the last time the'd spend money for others. In none of these examples did the researchers give them extra money.
after watching this video I decided that I should try this and see how it feels for myself, so I went to a buddy's house today and ordered us pizza. when the delivery girl got there I gave her a $10 tip. the look on her face truly made me smile. Earlier tonight while i was a work a man came in and got a small coffee. It cost $1.47 the man gets in his wallet and pulls out a $5 and says put the rest of that in your pocket. I can honestly say this has been one of the best days of the past 3 months.
I didn't find the results from this study too surprising ... but I can see interesting ground for further development. Such as noting the intentions of the people who give money and then their happiness. Do people who spend in a (selfish) socially strategic way end up being happier then those who do not spend it for a particular selfish reason?
And the difference between giving to strangers and friends?
However, I am always wary of the word happiness and how one can measure such a thing..
I agree 100%. Spending your disposable income on charitable means rather than personal gratification does bring about more fulfillment. However, charity is only charity if it is voluntary.
reading the comments there are a lot of people questioning this experiment's results. To test it, try one of the following; go out and buy someone a gift they would appreciate, donate to a cause or simply compliment someone genuinely/do a deed for someone.
All are forms of compassion. Guarantee you will feel good about yourself and about the person you helped.
I once spent the rest of my money to buy my mom a potted plant for her birthday. It made us both very happy... until mom realized that I went broke because of that and she would have to give me some money so that I could have lunch at school. But the happiness still lingered for about a week.
I've always imagined it would make me happy to be John Beresford Tipton, who gave away a million dollars to someone at the beginning of each episode of "The Millionaire." This TEDtalk confirms my belief. All I have to do is somehow get that kind of money in the first place.
P.S. That TV series was shown in the 1950s, when a million dollars was worth something!
They do. 3 ways money buys happiness that I'm aware of:
1) To meet to standard cost of living/essentials. This doesn't by happiness per se - it enables it by decreasing stress.
2) By spending it on experiences.
3) By giving it away. The best way to do this is by giving smaller amounts out more often.
However, it's hard to say which is most important - would you still be happy about giving away $500 if you can't pay rent? This video seems to suggest that, but I'm a bit skeptical.
"Rwanda is amazingly green" Made me proud for some odd reason :D
Giving is receiving unless your ego is too overinflated, to realize it, it's a positive act whenever you forget about yourself you're so much happier. Many cultures, and religious doctrines have been aware of this for a long time. That doesn't mean they practice it though ha.
In fact I think if this was given out of pocket people would've even been more pleased with the results. When you give away things that are dear it's even more pleasing because you prove to yourself that physical objects do not control your state of happiness. You take it back for yourself when, in other-words when you give away the money it loses some of that selfish grip it has on you.
That is trued
I give money to charity sometimes but I never feel happy about it. I still do it out of a sense of obligation but it's like washing the dishes or eating healthily, something that's no fun to do but has to be done anyway.
Exactly. The number of potential confounding effects is huge. It does not sound like they controlled for anything in the correctional studies in various countries. The causality could be reversed but there could also easily be other factors that both increased happiness and willingness to spend on others. Luckily they didn't present a correlation study alone, but actually did experiment with making people spend money in different ways.
Agreed, some of the experiments, such as the allegorical surveys were lacking in rigor, but the more controlled experiments where they instructed them on how to spend seem to imply the correlation.
this vid provided me insight. sometimes people have to experience it first for themselves especially by obtaining money through their own hard work. I can imagine why many countries on the map are not significantly green because people there are struggling financially to some extent. for the countries with population that are well off, they probably define giving as buying a good product from a company, which is also in a sense giving away money instead of stashing it away.
Beautiful. Thanks Michael. Appreciate your efforts and time o put together and share the wonderful wisdom.
5:34 THE CAKE IS A LIE.
I'm sorry.
oh No.
why did you tell me 😢😢😢
that ruined my life :p
well to start off i've always said that money cant buy u happiness..only if u spend it wrong. honestly if i ever win the powerball i already know that im giving half or more to others, not charity cuz dont like the idea of not seeing where my money is going but i would give it to ppl on the streets, go some department store and pay off ppl's debt idk something along those lines, i'll do it not for the media attention but for the sheer fact that i am improving others lifes, even in a small way
it also depends on personality. some ppl are just selfish& would be happier to spend it on themselves than others. others are more generous & find happiness in sharing with others. I thnk it also depends on WHO you're giving it to. The happiness level is probably greater if spend it on someone who really needs it or someone you really care for vs. someone/some cause you're less passionate about. Also, is the money spent directly or through a third party &how appreciative is the person receiving
I wonder what the results would be if instead of money they ¨gave time¨ to other people. I´m more on the nerd side of things but I often enjoy a lot more helping friends on whatever type of problems just to be with them. I think the point of this video is a little mistaken, since I think that when people were given money to give to other people they just socialized more, which in turn was what made them happier and not the act of giving in itself.
powerful, straight to the point talk, GREAT!
Spending money for someone is really important. Buying gift for your friends, your parents and someone. As see long life we must be happy.😻 I was inspired this speech.!!
Money is one of the things that's talked about most in the Bible because it's such a basic human desire to quantify the things around us. Money is a measure for success, and a measure for happiness, and what you do with money is such a huge indicator of where your heart is. Selfless with money leads to spiritual happiness, no matter what you believe.
I would have to agree on that. "Irresponsible" is the key word.
Absolutely correct. The thing to remember, is that this type of data has been replicated in a variety of settings with varying measures. Together, it seems to suggest with reasonable certainty that giving/donating is associated with a short elevation in mood at the very least. Long term is much harder to prove because of the endless confounders that arise in long periods. Nevertheless, it highlights a very interesting concept - 'altruism' makes us happier. But does altriusm really exist?
Some of the most happy , considerate , honest & fun people to be around have a profound financial disadvantage . & some of the meanest , unhappy , dishonest & inconsiderate people to be around are at a financial advantage .. WEiRD how that works ..
Because I'm broke and in college and have a ton of allergies... I.E. it would be impossible for me to donate 90% of what I don't have... Not to mention I would die trying to do it. No point in dying when living will help many more.
I thought about that, and it would make sense if considering only one person. However, because there is a constant stream of people dying, charities would be receiving more money while the general public loses the same amount. You can think of it in terms of momentum as well: at first charities would lose money, but after a few decades there would be a significant increase in donations that would quickly overcome the amount lost during the first years.
Humans have an innate need to give and contribute. For those who can't create as readily as artists, money is the easy option. I'm happy when I buy high-quality paints and tools for my craft, but even happier when I create personalized gifts for friends and family.
I think that if it was your own personal money, then the act of giving it away is more rewarding. I would like to note though that giving money away to someone you can physically see is much more rewarding then just giving it to someone without seeing them (personal experience)
I think it does, but that it does also have to do with an amount. $5 or $20 isn't much of anything. It can only be short term gain. But if you gave me like a few hundred thousand, I could make myself way happier by paying off my house than by giving it all to charity. I'd feel great giving it all away, but how long would that feeling last? A few months at best? A fleeting feeling thinking about it?
Paying off my house would make me WAY happier because I wouldn't have a mortgage to stress over.
I just did a review on my channel on his book "Happy Money" had the opportunity to talk to him and hes a really cool guy
Wow you have no videos. Make it public
Giving money away to random people for which you couldn't care less about doesn't make you happier. However, giving money or resources to those whom you value and cherish can bring joy into one's life.
+Miyamoto Clan money is lowest thing to give.
I care about random people... Do you care about me?
My point is simple... You shouldn’t not care about someone just because you don’t know someone. And it’s up to ourselves to realize that if we did get to know that person, chances are that we would care about them (like we should)!
Recently, I bought quilts for my parents and sister because it is really cold.That indeed make me feel happy.
"Are they positively correlated? i.e. does giving increase happiness?"... And not even a hint of a smile at what he just did there. I'm impressed.
I find this to be true; if you spend your money on something you know will have good results, in return you will be happy. For instance the charity donorschoose, you know what the outcome of your purchase will be to the students. That is how money can buy happiness.
money only buys the greedy happyness, to everyone else, knowing you made someone happy or even save their life, is more satisfying than knowing you only helped yourself.
i'm not trying to be a smartass or anything but maybe u should try to give the money in person. i did that and the appreciation they showed made me happy.
Spending time on some one seems more universally rewarding than spending money.
Perhaps we have internalized the sentiment “time is money” much to the detriment our personal and societal well being!
Great thoughts on prosperity, caring for our fellow man, and self happiness. Thank you.
It is better to Give , but for the right reasons
Amen. Shame that the premise needs to be skewed like it has been here.
Thank you!! I'm cultivating positivity and peace in myself but I still haven't mastered being totally happy bec. I attribute it to external sources.. but this made me think and feel better...
@peluffodaniele True but keep in mind is experiment applies to people who have the money to spend to begin with. If you're in poverty, sure you'd like to buy things for friends and family but if you can't even afford to keep up your own personal lifestyle then you won't be happy losing money you need, especially if nobody gives you anything in return.
ah, but you forget that at least for the Vancouver college kids, the business teams, and the dodgeball teams, the researchers TOLD the groups whether or not to spend it on themselves or others/pro-socially, therefore eliminating the possibility of happier people choosing to be more emphatic.
Honestly, I think this has less to do with money and more to do with giving. You don’t have to spend money to give.
Pro-Social makes people happier... not being anti-social, yet that's so lost today hahahaha
I would be interested to see what the happiness data is on the people who *received* the gifts as well. I know that my personal happiness improves when I receive a gift from someone, especially an unexpected one, though perhaps not as much as it would on buying a gift for another. Happiness isn't a zero-sum game, which can make for some interesting results when mutual happiness is considered in the trials.
I see your point. Though I think many people see the money as their own, thus somewhat validating the experiment. It certainly isn't perfect though. I wonder how else they might go about studying people's attitudes towards spending?
O que ele defende em sua apresentação no TED é que o dinheiro só não nos traz felicidade quando somos egoístas em relação a ele. Norton sugere que se gastássemos mais dinheiro em benefício de outras pessoas ou doássemos mais, nossa felicidade seria maximizada. Para comprovar sua teoria, o pesquisador fez um experimento interessante com dois grupos de estudantes universitários. Ao primeiro, deu entre 5 e 15 dólares para que cada aluno gastasse consigo mesmo. Ao segundo, entregou a mesma quantia e pediu-lhes que gastassem o valor comprando produtos e serviços para outras pessoas. O resultado mostrou que não importa a quantidade de dinheiro que você gaste: esses gastos farão você mais feliz se beneficiarem outras pessoas. Isso explica por que boa parte das pessoas que ganha na loteria tem uma vida infeliz, diz Norton. “O dinheiro nos traz péssimas amizades e também nos deixa egoístas. Por isso, pessoas que têm o costume de doar são mais felizes”.
Obras_servicos Obg pelo sumário! 👌🏻
i was skeptical until he told me about the dodge-ball experiment.
I feel happy when I buy any birthday presents for people who I loved.
I would like to tell my students.
Thank you for amazing videos.🥰
One thing is certainly true: People are not happy when you force them to spend their own money on others. They will be happier when they give of their own free will.
You can't be happy if you're only selfish. Go on, try being completely selfish, and see how happy you really are. The reason is because you can't completely satisfy your own desires. It's endless.
Best money I spend is helping people
Well, you'd have to define what "selfish" means. You are either only excessively concerned with yourself (egocentric), or you are not. And you can't possibly be happy if you're completely selfish and egocentric. That's just how it goes. Being selfish doesn't actually benefit you, but rather destroys you. Only satisfying your desires won't benefit you in the end.
It seems as though the fact that the money was free money would affect how the spender feels about giving it away as apposed to money they earned.
Around 6:45 he mentions that their data suggests people who donate money from their own pocket are happier in almost every country in the world compared to people who don't donate
If I had some money I wouldn't mind helping others, I always have but right now with the economy so bad and no work I'm struggling to make end meet. I'm still blessed and count my blessings everyday.
God Bless and Good luck to all,
7 minutes into this and i was thinking yeah whatever what's new we've heard a lot about how philanthropy makes the giver happy blah blah blah until towards the end of the video, i realize my framework for viewing helping others is the problem. maybe this presentation isn't entirely original but it makes me wonder how my life would change if i saw "giving" differently and incorporate it into my daily life.
I guess. But you can't deny alcohol generally results in significantly worse behaviour in the user that affects those around them.
Hey TED, at 0:23 you misspelled Massachusetts in the lower third. MIght want to fix that.
Amazing talk. This makes me feel good.
I think that this has big implications in the dynamics of team work... we are hardwired to take pleasure out of our own altruistic behavior even if trivial like buying someone coffee, although counter intuitive in most situations it improves the group dynamics... evolution carved this in to our nature to make us work in more effective groups but it also gave us a big brain that prefers selfish choices in order to preserve our individuality... cool!
I don't think their study measured what they thought they were measuring. They weren't measuring the effect of spending money on other people to their own self-assessed feeling of happiness. They were measuring the effect of spending _someone_else's_ money on other people versus upon themselves. There are 4 ways to spend money: My money on myself, my money on someone else, someone else's money on myself, someone else's money on someone else. Guess why politicians love to spend public money?
Very very good! Loved this!
I completely agree with what he's saying, but it seems to me that far too many of us are stuck in this vicious circle of trading our time for money doing things that can, at the end of the day, feel rather meaningless.... and then we complain that our lives feel empty. If we can realize that the path to happiness lies in sharing that money with others isn't the next step realizing that we can skip the middle man (money) and simply give our time which is just as fulfilling if not more so?
When you really think about it more than anything else doesn't money represent a lack of trust in others? What purpose does it serve otherwise? Maybe the joy we feel when we give to others lies in finding that trust again? So what would complete trust feel like? You hear over and over again yes, but you have to be cautious... yes, but you have to protect yourself.... yes, but.... What would we look like if we could get rid of that yes, but? Really think about what Jesus had to say and ask if he was talking about doing away with that yes, but? Turn the other cheek? Love your enemies as you love yourself? Treat the least among you as you would treat me? Give all you have to the poor and follow me? Is there a yes, but in any of those?
Very interesting ... in fact we all know that helping other people and thus bring more happiness for ourselves ...
3 myths created to give a sense of comfort and justice and to keep people docile:
1) Money does not buy happiness.
2) What goes around comes around.
3) Greedy selfish jerks can't be happy.
I feel that the reason that people we're happier is because of cognitive dissonance. They didn't get immediate pleasure from they're purchase thus because the idea of spending money and not getting the immediate pleasure is similar to buying stuff for other people (since you're not getting the pleasure of lets say drinking a soda) buying stuff for other people would cause anxiety. To relieve this anxiety in turn our brains would find pleasure in giving to others. Just my analysis.
i believe jelleestone said it best "money can't buy me happiness, but I'm happy when I can buy what I want, anytime that I want"
i'm not convinced about the whole 'money can buy happiness.. it just depends on how you spend it'. What about the act of giving itself, what's the worth of that in the whole study? For example, if I had a cup of coffee and I gave it to someone, i imagine it would have the same impact as using the $5 to buy it.
For me this is true, I feel much happier when I give money or stuff away especially to those who are less fortunate than I. If you have an open hand to give more will return to you, again true in my life.
Except the part where they randomly gave college students money and told them how to find it. It's pretty difficult to argue that the sample who were told to spend prosocially were more happy at the outset, and they probably compared the pretest scores to ensure that.
It is better to give than to receive.
Great insight into the value of Charitable Giving. Thanks TED for another great learning opportunity.
Michael Norton nailed the power of being happy.
#CastYourBread #ImaginIf
DND
This is an excellent talk. Wade Harman you may enjoy this if you haven't already seen it. :o)
+Sherrill Anderson So, if you've already seen it you won't enjoy it?
The part that he never looked into is, how does the person feel receiving the charity? Does that lower their self esteem or worth?
It's not really about spending money, it's about contributing to society :)
I've spent plenty of money on other people, perhaps too much, it didn't help me in the slightest. Now I'm broke and depressed. Context is everything, this study needs a lot of work.
I would love to see this based on higher amounts over a longer time:
Give some people like $1,000,000 to give to any charity;and others $250,000 to buy/pay off a decent home. Short term, I bet the people that give away $1,000,000 feel amazingly happy. Long term, I bet the people that have a home and don't need to worry about a mortgage are happier, and I would be the people that gave away the million grumble and say, "I wish I could have had a little bit of that money for myself."
You're not writing this for me? Im part of the public youve decided to share your philosophy with. A philosophy which enforces caste systems, original sin, and general apathy towards the less fortunate, as in effect 'they deserve it' is the logical outcome of belief in Karma. Cheers
I tend to be dubious about any experiment that involves self reporting "happiness", espeically if you are checking it several hours after the act itself.
Or at least the recipient needs to THINK it is an open-hearted gift...
And let me see if I have this right: Seeking your own happiness is selfish. Giving with an open heart is an intentional act that tends to bring happiness. Therefore, intentional giving with an open heart is selfish. There is something self-contradictory in your philosophy. Find it and you will be happier. :)
Helping others helps yourself..
That doesn't mean it's not from their pocket.
And we know anyway that even if they did design a different experiment, using earned money, there will still be a group of people like that guy above that will pick holes at it. It isn't about their methodology, it's about not wanting to accept things that don't agreed with your worldview.
Perhaps giving people money is a controlled way of measuring the results of an experiment.
A dollar is not equal in value to everyone. Person A's dollar might mean more to him than Person B's, depending on how they came by it and how much money they have or need.