Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Man's ultimate purpose for all pursuits:

To a large extent, people tend to focus on three major things in life: money, love, and material possessions. We magnify the relevance of these things, which occasionally pushes our minds into “anxiety extravaganzas,” in an attempt to discover the easiest means to achieving plentiful in the shortest time possible. Moreover, millions of books have been written about happiness and how to realize it. However, I am yet to find any argument that advocates for forcing one’s way to achieving it.

In a UK Times online newspaper blog, the author James Montier, a global equity strategist, argued that several studies proved that money and possessions fail to create consistent happiness. For instance, incomes in the United Kingdom have increased tremendously since the 1950s; however, contentment levels have barely shifted. Research on lottery winners also indicated that these lucky buddies revert to their previous levels of happiness within a year of their windfall.

However, more controversial is that this report comes from an investment banker, where presumably money is God. Somewhat heretically for a bank employee, the report is titled
“For it doesn’t pay materialism and the pursuit of happiness.”

Understandably, this has been greeted with skepticism by some brokers who raison d’etre in their annual bonus. But Monteir says that, as a strategist, he wants to know what makes people really happy and why they force situations to happen while in the pursuit of their desires.

The concept of diminishing returns, although related to production, justifies the argument that more isn’t necessarily better. Why then, force things to happen, when there is no guarantee that they will yield everlasting satisfaction?

www.tapthegood.com
http://www.audiobooks.com/book/132973
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu7PRNpPuHA&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8hiJ8MaXp0&feature=relmfu
http://tapthegood.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/the-silly-things-we-do-when-stressed/