Poll: Would you rather be very rich or very smart?

Reply 20

makeup

14

Original post by angelike1

It's average.

nah I want a 6 figure salary

I feel this

Omg definitely smart if I still get to be in top 50% monetarily. Money doesn't buy happiness and I mean neither does being smart either but in theory the smarter you are the more you can appreciate about that world.

Reply 23

ethan4233

3

Money, 100%.

I'd have a far better quality of life with average intelligence and a lot of money than vice versa.

Reply 24

username1876553

22

Use your intelligence to increase your wealth.

Reply 25

username4936544

8

I'd rather be very smart

Reply 26

username3118454

OP

19

Original post by black1blade

Omg definitely smart if I still get to be in top 50% monetarily. Money doesn't buy happiness and I mean neither does being smart either but in theory the smarter you are the more you can appreciate about that world.

I think money can make you happy up to about 40k a year which is about 10k above average.

Original post by Dunya

Use your intelligence to increase your wealth.

Assume your wealth stays at 50%.

I just wanna be rich

Iintelligent, I don't need that much money. Assuming "average" is liveable well on. Dont know how I feel about hoarding that amount of wealth and doing nothing helpful with it. Being intelligent would be fun :ahee:

Rather be rich

I want to be smart to be rich. OF COURSE I WANNA BE DUMB RICH.

Reply 31

black1blade

19

Original post by angelike1

I think money can make you happy up to about 40k a year which is about 10k above average.

Assume your wealth stays at 50%.

Yeah which is what a lot of jobs pay for people with a stem phd which is where I'm aiming for rn tho haven't done any research experience yet so we shall see.

Reply 32

username3118454

OP

19

theres more to being smart than making money

Reply 33

username1539513

21

Original post by angelike1

theres more to being smart than making money

Yeah but if you’re rich you can pay people to be smart for you

Reply 34

999tigger

19

Original post by R1C3

Well, there are two considerations I can think of- to argue 'smart' over 'rich'.

1) A person with a higher intellect is probably (is this statistically true?) more likely to find themselves opportunities to earn lots of money- to the point where they may be considered 'rich'.
2) Would being more intelligent lead to a greater appreciation of a larger amount of topics, making you more happy and content as a result?

1 was ruled out by the OP.

Reply 35

999tigger

19

Original post by angelike1

I think money can make you happy up to about 40k a year which is about 10k above average.

Assume your wealth stays at 50%.

What happens at 40k?

The top 10% isnt really much, but if you stayed at that level forever, then the money option is worth £50k and the 50% level is about £22k.
In that case id be happier on £50k.

Reply 36

R1C3

15

Original post by 999tigger

1 was ruled out by the OP.

Not at all. The OP simply stated that degrees do no equate to high-income positions; which I'd agree with. Which is just one deterministic factor towards intelligence affecting income.

I know some really smart people (much smarter than me) who opted for a Games Development degree over, say, a degree in Software Development. I know that those friends are talented programmers- but I'd wager that a degree in the latter subject would be more appealing to an employer- as a rather vague example/interpretation.

A smart person should be more likely to earn a higher income than a less intelligent person, assuming both wanted it equally as much.
I'm sure if you gave £10k to two people of varying intelligence and asked them to make a substantial return, the smarter of the two would come out on top. Therefore, I'd say the ability to earn money is directly based on the intelligence of the subject- as the ability to easily learn should be a highly advantageous trait.

OP

erm what? lol

OP

Original post by 999tigger

What happens at 40k?

The top 10% isnt really much, but if you stayed at that level forever, then the money option is worth £50k and the 50% level is about £22k.
In that case id be happier on £50k.

'Happiness level' plateus after 40k.

And yeah thats true, when I made the thread I was thinking about average wealth to only include full-time workers (which is 30k region I think), which is more reasonable.