Can lawyers be happy?

[crazy canuck]

I think physicians are also more likely than most to commit suicide when they develop severe/chronic physical ailments.

Yeah, probably true.  They would have a true appreciation for the hell they are about to endure while the rest of us can suffer on with false hope.

[The Brain]

Lawyers can be happy.

[Eddie Teach]

They also have more pressure/stress from work than most. Doctors, that is.

[Capetan Mihali]

The dangers if you do fail are severe.

Same with jumping off a building, lying in front of a train, hanging, asphyxiation, or really any other serious suicide attempt.  Any attempt at exsanguination is almost certainly doomed to fail, and overdoses have a really very low fatality rate (even though they can cause terrible organ damage).

There is a lot of what I'd call "pseudosucidality" out there.  Swallowing a bottle of tranquilizers and calling 911 on yourself isn't really an attempted suicide as much an attempted suicide attempt.  It's not just suicidal gestures or a "cry for help," sometimes people engage in suicidal behaviors because they really don't want to live, but they also don't fully commit to the idea of dying.

Which is part of the reason that guns are such a problem in this arena; they are so frequently fatal that there is most often no opportunity to reassess at a later point.  The overwhelming majority of people who survive suicide attempts do not actually go on to die from suicide.  I recall an interview with someone who survived a suicide jump off the Golden Gate Bridge saying something to the effect that the moment he started to fall he immediately thought "Oh Christ I've made a terrible mistake" and then struggled very hard to get to a rescue boat.  I imagine a lot of people have that experience, only most (especially with firearms) don't get to revisit it.

[Monoriu]

Hey Malthus - I think the research has shown that as long as you're above a certain amount (nobody enjoys abject poverty), having more money does not correlate to being happier.

Yeah, I certainly buy that.  It makes no difference to me if I have US$10 billion or US$100 billion. 

[The Brain]

Hey Malthus - I think the research has shown that as long as you're above a certain amount (nobody enjoys abject poverty), having more money does not correlate to being happier.

Yeah, I certainly buy that.  It makes no difference to me if I have US$10 billion or US$100 billion.

Monster. Do you know how many African/Asian children you can save with 90 billion?

[Malthus]

Hey Malthus - I think the research has shown that as long as you're above a certain amount (nobody enjoys abject poverty), having more money does not correlate to being happier.

Yeah, I certainly buy that.  It makes no difference to me if I have US$10 billion or US$100 billion.

Monster. Do you know how many African/Asian children you can save with 90 billion?

Why save them? They don't keep well, even in the freezer.

[DGuller]

I certainly don't think money is a be-all and end-all of happiness, but I think it flies in the face of reason to assert that having more isn't something that generally makes people happy, all else being equal. It is just that the extra effort required to earn that "more" may not be 'worth it' in terms of happiness (that is, the extra hours and stress are not fully compensated by simply havng more money).

I don't think it does fly in the face of reason for the marginal utility of additional money to essentially peter out to zero.  I think there is a lot of truth in the concept of hedonic treadmill, and then there is also the fact that happiness consists of several parts that cannot be substituted, which would by definition put an asymptotic limit on the amount happiness that can be derived from money.

[Malthus]

I certainly don't think money is a be-all and end-all of happiness, but I think it flies in the face of reason to assert that having more isn't something that generally makes people happy, all else being equal. It is just that the extra effort required to earn that "more" may not be 'worth it' in terms of happiness (that is, the extra hours and stress are not fully compensated by simply havng more money).

I don't think it does fly in the face of reason for the marginal utility of additional money to essentially peter out to zero.  I think there is a lot of truth in the concept of hedonic treadmill, and then there is also the fact that happiness consists of several parts that cannot be substituted, which would by definition put an asymptotic limit on the amount happiness that can be derived from money.

Perhaps; but the amounts we are talking about are the amounts a person could reasonably earn as a professional. I don't think those approach anywhere near the point where asymptotic limits become an issue ... at least, that hasn't been my experience. 

[lustindarkness]

Wow, this turned out to be a fun upbeat thread. Damn depressed lawyers. 

[Eddie Teach]

Lawyers ruin everything.

[DGuller]

Perhaps; but the amounts we are talking about are the amounts a person could reasonably earn as a professional. I don't think those approach anywhere near the point where asymptotic limits become an issue ... at least, that hasn't been my experience. 

It's hard for any given individual to judge for themselves, though, since multiple variables are all constantly changing.  Your baseline expectations, your income, your age, your family situation, just to mention a few examples, typically evolve throughout your life.  You can't hold all these variables except one constant as an individual, but a well-designed statistical study can.

[Monoriu]

Perhaps; but the amounts we are talking about are the amounts a person could reasonably earn as a professional. I don't think those approach anywhere near the point where asymptotic limits become an issue ... at least, that hasn't been my experience. 

Agreed.  I'd like to have money so that I am completely independent.  That means the amount of money must be high enough to withstand every tragedy imaginable happening to me at the same time.  Sure, there probably is no way I can spend, say, US$500 million.  But I'd love to have more than that so that there is no scenario whatsoever where I need to ask for help from anybody.  That is an insanely high bar to meet. 

[Eddie Teach]

Agreed.  I'd like to have money so that I am completely independent.  That means the amount of money must be high enough to withstand every tragedy imaginable happening to me at the same time.  Sure, there probably is no way I can spend, say, US$500 million.  But I'd love to have more than that so that there is no scenario whatsoever where I need to ask for help from anybody.  That is an insanely high bar to meet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUhRKVIjJtw

[Caliga]

I actually think being a dentist would be a great gig.  You get to call yourself "Doctor" but you can actually work something akin to normal hours, and not everyone hates going to the dentist (I actually don't mind it at all).  Also, way less pressure than being say a surgeon as it's pretty unlikely someone is going to die under your care.

The father of my best friend growing up was a dentist and he liked it so much his wife had to pretty much yell at him to retire.  She was his business manager, too, so they got to work/commute together.  From what I understand he sold his practice for a ton of dough.