Cluetrain In-class notes

Group’s Summary of chapters

Forbes, can it really be you?

Sure, if a person is handed $10, the pleasure centers of his brain light up as if he were given food, sex or drugs. But that initial rush does not translate into long-term pleasure for most people. Surveys have found virtually the same level of happiness between the very rich individuals on the Forbes 400 and the Maasai herdsman of East Africa. Lottery winners return to their previous level of happiness after five years. Increases in income just don’t seem to make people happier–and most negative life experiences likewise have only a small impact on long-term satisfaction.

“The relationship between money and happiness is pretty darned small,” says Peter Ubel, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan.

But WEBMD tells me what I really wanted to hear: Good news for folks whose bedrooms have more activity than their bank accounts: Research shows that sex is better for your happiness than money.

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