Alex Gibbs

Professor Jizi
UWRT 1102
3 February 2016

Double Entry Journal

Citation:
Parfitt, Matthew. Can Money Buy Happiness? Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight
Reader. Boston: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2015. 160-73. Print.

Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

Distinguished Professor Emeritus of

Psychology research focuses on
subjective well-being (P160)

From his background, he seems to be

knowledgeable and a reliable source of
information on this topic

Is Chinese food better than Mexican food?

p160

Great comparison to the question. Its very

subjective

Rich people sometimes develop

unhappy attitudes on their way to making
their fortunes. P160

This is the idea that I have on what happenes

during the wealth gaining process.

forty-seven of the forty-nine rich people

were satisfied with their lives p162

I find this shocking as this literally directly

conflicts with what I thought the result would
be

It wasnt money that brought their

happiness p162

Okay. Thats more like what I thought

once an individual is earning a middleclass income, money bought little additional

I can believe that

happiness. P163

working a stripper and drinking heavily.

P165

Wow. That was a sharp change from her

euphoric spend, spend, spend.

The media may find lottery winners

newsworthy only when they make a mess of
their lives. P 165

That sounds about right.

materialism can be toxic to happiness

p166

I feel as though its mainly due to the constant

desire for more, bigger, better, newer things
that leaves a person without the current
satisfaction of now need to be happy.

poor people are usually not depressed.

P 167

This furthers the idea that money isnt

necessary for one to be happy.

Happiness = What we have / What we

want p170

Seems simple enough but makes a lot of

sense.

pattern of rising desires p 171

Great name for what I was stating earlier

Materialism, simply put, is wanting money

and material goods more than you want
other things, such as love or leisure time.
P172

What a nice concise way to put it

Some readers still may not be convinced

that heavily valuing money is toxic to
happiness. P 173

I am definitely not one of those readers

Thus, the merest hint of money let to a

tendency for folks to feel confident, but also
to feel more distant from others. P 173

I was just about to change my screen saver to

money but then finished reading that section
and immediately changed my mind. The cost

unfortunately outweigh the benefits in my

opinion this time.
The Believing Game
forty-seven of the forty-nine rich people
were satisfied with their lives p162

I find this shocking as this literally directly

conflicts with what I thought the result would
be

How could this be possibly right?

Well, as I read further in, it seems as though it wasnt the money that gave them their
happiness. The fact that they were wealthy meant little to nothing in the context of their
happiness.
What is interesting or helpful about this view?
It introduced the idea that wealthiness doesnt necessarily lead to unhappiness.
What would I notice if I believed this view?
I would notice that money isnt the source of unhappiness.
In what sense and under what conditions could this be true?
This would be true if, there were other factors that lead to unhappiness such as the
method of its pursuit.