How Money Messes With Your Mind

http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/how-money-messes-with-your-mind/

by robg • 17 years ago

20 5 17 years ago

tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com

cesare• 17 years ago

Wow! Psychology at its finest. Especially the last paragraph.

Have they ever studied what happens if they just start treating people with dignity?

jonny_noog• 17 years ago

Indeed. Why don't we just go the whole hog and begin making up these little rituals where money truly becomes like a deity in it's own religion. Eventually, we could convert buildings to places of worship in the primary financial centers of the world, people will come to count their god and stock brokers could be like high priests.

araneae• 17 years ago

So, basically they found... that money makes people feel good. Duh.

Dan Ariely has done a lot of (better) research showing all the weird effects money has on people. For instance, people experience more pain relief if they are told that the pill they took cost $5.00, as opposed to $.50. Unlike this study, at least it's relevant to life. (Seriously, they're not going to give $100 bills to kids in hospitals to count.)

Incidentally, it can have also have negative effects if used as a motivator. They asked people to a simple computer task, and people did a lot better at it if they were asked to do it "because it would help the researchers" than if they received $5.00. They did the worst if they were only paid $.50.

(He has two very good, albeit not very relevant, Ted talks: http://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_ariely.html )

edw519• 17 years ago

"Money won't solve all your problems but it allows you to arrive at them in style." - Tony Robbins

mojaam• 17 years ago

"Other ideas are to have men count money before they go out hitting on women, because they are going to be rejected a lot."

That's funny. Same with the giving kids money to count idea. Wouldn't this make people feel more depressed, more in pain in the long run when they realize it's not theirs or some might be like "I can never make that much" etc.

Reading "The power of now" by Eckhart Tolle will totally make you reject these ideas and you will most likely be told to the way out of pain is not with money, rather to be present and accept the now.

How Money Messes With Your Mind

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