Your Hunger For Money Is Starving You

<p>William MacAskill is a fascinating guy. He is the youngest Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Oxford. He’s one of the founders of the <a href='https://www.effectivealtruism.org/'>Effective Altruism movement</a>. He’s written a great book called <a href='http://geni.us/pWgrV'><em>Doing Good Better - Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference</em></a> and given a popular <a href='https://www.ted.com/talks/will_macaskill_how_can_we_do_the_most_good_for_the_world?language=en'>TED talk</a>. Will also happens to donate every dollar he earns over $30,000 each year to charities of careful choosing. That was a commitment Will made to himself in 2009. He estimates that will be a lifetime sum well into the millions of dollars.</p><p><br/></p><p><a href='https://dailystoic.com/will-macaskill-interview/'>In our interview with him for DailyStoic.com</a>, we asked Will whether there are philosophical benefits to living so cheaply, in addition to the fact that it means he can use those savings to help other people. After all, <a href='https://dailystoic.com/never-slave-to-wealth/'>the Stoics talk a great deal about being indifferent to wealth</a> and the finer things in life for entirely selfish reasons--as in it makes <em>your</em> life better. Will’s response is great. </p><p><br/></p><p>I’m sympathetic to that Stoic idea. &quot;Mo money mo problems&quot; has some truth to it: the more things you possess, the more things there are to worry about, or feel sad about if they&apos;re damaged or lost. And they take attention away from the things that really are important to making your life go well — your relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners,<em> </em>finding work that you can excel in, staying fit and healthy. This isn&apos;t just my anecdotal experience either: there&apos;s a ton of evidence from the psychological literature that, above around $30,000 per year, additional income doesn&apos;t do much to increase happiness.</p><p><br/></p><p>Will certainly would agree w