Buying Experience Analysis

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Introduction It all started in my Economics class. We read Hill Harper’s books, which led to assignments that dealt with money being important or not. We read an article about several aspects of this, and the section I read, was named “Buying Experiences”. This topic made me think deeper about human dealings with money. After days of pondering this, new revelations ran around in my head; how making experiences are so much more than money itself, opening up new philosophical doors for me. So, for those who think that money is more important than memories, I am here to tell you, that the special legacy we leave among other people is just as important, and might even be more important. Today I entered this Rotary 4-Way Speech Contest to share…show more content…
I want to share with you, one of the most significant experiences I’ve had, which will be remembered for many years to come. Before I begin, I should mention that I am not very social, and tend to seclude myself when meeting new people, and this I believe adds more meaning to my story. I was part of a program called Upward Bound Math and Science. I participated in a Summer STEM Academy, which consists of going to Penn State University Park, and living in the residential housing for six weeks. Throughout the summer, they aid students in several aspects: learning about college while balancing school work and social activities, gaining skills in public speaking, how to present well and much more. This sounds great, but how much does it cost, one might ask. Well, it is actually free, and that is the best part! I believe that I have made many new memories at Penn State, and met many unique individuals, that it makes me jovial just having that in my grasp. With this attitude in mind, I attempted to be more social, I attempted to be with other people, which in the end, it led to stronger, and closer…show more content…
In the article I read, “Winning the lottery: Does it guarantee happiness?” shows many examples of people winning the jackpot. In many of these cases, winning the amount of money they did, seemed to stack much more burden than ease. After winning the money, many were burdened by others who requested money from them, and even family who tried to run their lives. There was an even a case where someone was murdered. Abraham Shakespeare in Florida, was slain after winning 31 million dollars. Who was charged; his friend. There has been research in psychology and economics, and they found out that people get happier as their income increases, however, it only rises to a certain extent. A study that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, found that life satisfaction rises with higher incomes, up to a household income of about 75,000 dollars, and levels off afterward. This shows that your happiness does not necessarily keep increasing as you gain more money. With my philosophy, one is more likely to be more generous with their money. A 2008 study in Science found that people were happier spending 20 dollars on others, than they were on themselves. So keeping money isn’t so beneficial, but offering what you have to others is, since it generally feels good, and taps into the human beings greatest source of meaning – social
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