Greenville Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 112)

viewpoints Winning by the Lottery ba x t e r Wy n n W e may not act like we really believe it, but we have all heard the adage, “Money can’t buy happiness.” California’s celebrity governor, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, is not convinced. Reports are that Arnold recently made a statement along these lines, “We have all heard that money can’t buy happiness. I suppose that is true. After all, I have $50 million, and looking back on it, I was just as happy when I had only $48 million.” From the comfort of their doublewide trailer in Bulloch County, Ga., Robert and Tonya Harris shared their thoughts about the relationship between happiness and wealth. As winners of $275 million in the Mega Millions Jackpot, they joyously proclaimed, “It’s just unbelievable. We have been blessed!” Tonya was decisive and sincere in declaring her intentions: “This will not change me at all. I’m too down-to-earth. I’m too country. Tomorrow I will be back in my T-shirt and jeans. We’re just going to be normal.” Robert did choose to make one rather significant change – he immediately quit his job. Whether you call it luck or a blessing, winning $275 million in the lottery sure sounds like a dream come true. We have all fantasized about how happy we would be and how our lives would be transformed by winning the lottery. The famous humorist Frank McKinney Hubbard once observed, “I’ll say this for adversity: people seem to be able to stand it, and that’s more than I can say for prosperity.” Robert and Tonya Harris may do just fine in handling their newly acquired prosperity, but the odds are not in their favor. Research on lottery winners does not confirm the commonly-held assumption that striking it rich produces happiness. Numerous studies indicate that after a brief period of joy and elation, lottery winners invariably return to what psychologists refer to as their “set point” of contentment and happiness. Along with their mega-check from the Georgia Lottery, perhaps someone should give the Harrises a copy of Gregg Easterbrook’s fascinating book, “The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse.” Robert and Tonya might be shocked to learn that researchers have discovered “quadriplegics, as a group, have a higher sense of well-being than lottery winners.” Easterbrook goes on to explain that lottery winners inevitably get swept up in materialism, only to soon feel betrayed by it. Whereas most quadriplegics learn to adjust to the awesome struggles and hardships of daily life and come to appreciate the simple blessing of being alive, lottery winners frequently despair when it becomes apparent that great wealth does not produce perpetual euphoria. In fact, the major factors contributing to authentic happiness – relationships with family and friends, satisfying work, meaningful hobbies, etc., are frequently disrupted and destabilized as a result of the “good fortune” of instant prosperity. Like all of us, lottery winners are victims of what psychologists refer to as “impact bias,” the tendency to exaggerate, miscalculate and distort the level of happiness that will be derived from anticipated pleasures. We tend to imagine that if only we could win or inherit big money, secure that dream job, take that glamorous vacation, buy that magnificent house and drive that incredible car, we would finally be happy. Again from Easterbrook’s “The Progress Paradox,” “The United States has spent the last fifty years conducting an enormous social-engineering experiment in whether prosperity leads to happiness, and the answer, unequivocally, is NO.” Congratulations and best wishes to the Mega Millions Jackpot winners, Robert and Tonya Harris, winners of the $275 million Mega Millions Jackpot! Good luck, and keep in mind these words from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “There is a time when a man distinguishes the idea of felicity from the idea of wealth; it is the beginning of wisdom.”n Baxter M. Wynn is minister of pastoral care and community relations at First Baptist Church of Greenville. Viewpoints is a regular opinion column and does not necessarily reflect the views of Greenville Magazine. PatrickCollard Studios 864.430.8924 112 Greenville maGazine | • www.collardphoto.com • Photography • Animation • Video may/june 2008 http://www.collardphoto.com http://www.collardphoto.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Greenville Magazine - June 2008

Greenville Magazine - June 2008 Contents From the Publisher My Greenville Everyday Heroes Tackling Diversity Greenville’s Gone Global In The Lead From the Pros Anderson Suburban Sprawl Wellness The REAL State of Real Estate Something to Bark About Minority-owned Business A Look Back 1-Tank Trips Private School Resource Guide After Hours The Bulletin Around Town Viewpoints

Greenville Magazine - June 2008

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