Why do people play the Powerball?
CNN Link
Recently the powerball hit a historical high of $1.3 billion dollars. The author of this article wanted to find out why people purchase a powerball ticket. He asked different groups of people what their yearly income is, one group he asked particular questions to make them feel "poor" he then gave them five dollars to purchase zero to five powerball tickets. Then the other group he asked them similar questions about their income but made them feel "rich"; out of this group of people they bought less tickets then the group that was made to feel poor.
Personally I think: "Hey why not?" Even with the very slim chance of actually winning theres still a chance to change your life forever and be very prosperous.
This year ticket holders also reached a historical high! This just shows that even though there is a 1 in 8 billion chance to win people are still just as eager to rush to the change of wealth.
This connects to the California Gold Rush in that throughout history people have always been quick to RUSH to wealth and prosperity even if there is a very small chance of it.
Yeah, I think the appeal is in the "what if" even though the actual odds of wining are ridiculously low, you still think a couple bucks is not too bad. If I don't win, no real loss, but if I do...
ReplyDeleteThe idea of individualism is lessening as many people no longer trust the idea of going from rags to riches in our unstable economy. Booms and Busts are too unpredictable for small fresh companies and even larger scale corporations.
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