Instead, I will elaborate on my interpretation of it and the meaning that I attribute to it:
Seligman briefly mentions that ‘PERMA’ can be the foundation for a new value-model in politics in a video by the channel: ‘happy and well’. This suggests that comparisons of wellbeing above ‘1’, on say a QALY scale are useful. By convention, people are ‘1’ when well, and less than 1 depending on the degree of disease (mental or physical) as it affects their quality of life. The reddit point highlights for me that we may find it effective to improve the happiness of a banker who’s stressing himself out making money and blowing it on hookers than someone in ill health in the developing world.
Seligman also describes research that shows people who have experienced all 3 of the ‘worst’ traumatic experiences tend to experience ‘post traumatic growth’, more so than those with 2 or one of these experiences: rape, torture and capture. With a bit of Googling I can’t find the literature. This makes me less confident in his position but none-the-less hopeful that I’ve stumbled upon an important line of research for EA’s to pursue. Discussing positive things is probably good for the EA diaspora anyway, since doom and gloom talk is rather unpleasant IMO.
If there was anything useful the banker could get for $5 then he would buy it himself. The argument for giving to the poorest people is not that they are the most deserving, or even that they are suffering the most, but rather that they are the cheapest to help.
Would you mind summarizing the point. Because I don’t get it.
Instead, I will elaborate on my interpretation of it and the meaning that I attribute to it:
Seligman briefly mentions that ‘PERMA’ can be the foundation for a new value-model in politics in a video by the channel: ‘happy and well’. This suggests that comparisons of wellbeing above ‘1’, on say a QALY scale are useful. By convention, people are ‘1’ when well, and less than 1 depending on the degree of disease (mental or physical) as it affects their quality of life. The reddit point highlights for me that we may find it effective to improve the happiness of a banker who’s stressing himself out making money and blowing it on hookers than someone in ill health in the developing world.
Seligman also describes research that shows people who have experienced all 3 of the ‘worst’ traumatic experiences tend to experience ‘post traumatic growth’, more so than those with 2 or one of these experiences: rape, torture and capture. With a bit of Googling I can’t find the literature. This makes me less confident in his position but none-the-less hopeful that I’ve stumbled upon an important line of research for EA’s to pursue. Discussing positive things is probably good for the EA diaspora anyway, since doom and gloom talk is rather unpleasant IMO.
If there was anything useful the banker could get for $5 then he would buy it himself. The argument for giving to the poorest people is not that they are the most deserving, or even that they are suffering the most, but rather that they are the cheapest to help.
No, he could. Whether he would do it is another issue.
Moreover, the relationship between money and happiness is weak.