Research Blog #10: The Debate

The debate I have found with my topic is essentially the question of who is happier in the end: students who work hard at their academics throughout college or the students who have fun in college and focus more on college life. From my research, I have found writers who help to identify with both sides of the debate. Kent Swift, in an article of his, explains how "Folk wisdom proposes that money cannot buy happiness and, thus, suggests that a focus on material success is not the basis for a good life. Rather, a life well-lived would include a focus on such elements as happiness, a sense of purpose, wisdom, creativity, a philosophy of life, achievement, and the experience of love" He says that money isn't everything. Happiness cannot be determined by a certain level of material comfort, like money. But instead, it stems from having meaningful connections with others, and meaningful things to do. Other writers however, in an article titled "Acting for Happiness: Financial Behavior and Life Satisfaction of College Students, the authors tell us how too much focus on money and financial success is likely to lead to lowered happiness because it reduces the time and energy available to pursue more meaningful goals, but that with a good job and good education you will generally be happier with the success you have in life. That in turn leads to overall life satisfaction. There are the two sides of this argument in that money either represents happiness or it doesn't and these writers both defend opposite sides of that.