I gain happiness also from the miniscule hope of the life-altering outcome of winning the lottery.
That gain in happiness is occasionally worth the price of a lottery ticket.
I'm not an expert, but seems to me this feeling is also the main driver leading to gambling addiction, which ultimately leads to addicts saying things like "It's not about the money, but the game itself", after having lost a ton of money.
Wonder if Yotta can lead to the same addiction, and if so if it is then solely applied for positive objectives (i.e. saving money), or lowers the barrier to entry for other gambling schemes that are less beneficial.
But the odds are on a completely different level of impossibility in lottery that I just cant really get your end of the argument :/
If I were poorer, I suspect the happiness I gained from the lottery ticket purchases would be even greater.
If I already owned a home, on the other hand, I would value the lottery ticket hopes much lower.
Buying a lottery ticket from time to te, when the prize was big, made us live in a fantasy world between the time we bought it and when te results were announced. I think this thing - imagining a life without financial worries, lavish vacations and expensive toys, motivated me to learn more, try to launch a few startups and sacrifice my free time in order to try and achieve greatness.
Were those money well spent? Definitely yes (even though I haven't actually won the lottery)
Tbh lottery tickets can be a pretty cheap form of hope relative to other forms of gambling. Take a look at some of RobinHood's customers who are ”investing”. The odds seemed so favorable until they realized 95% of traders lose their money.