Pulau Besar — 10 August
Good morning. It’s 6.30 a.m. in Pulau Besar, Melaka. My four tiny humans are still sleeping peacefully in their cabin. My wife is having her morning tea while reading the Kay Scarpetta series, a forensic thriller series featuring Dr Kay Scarpetta as its protagonist—a brilliant and beautiful Chief Medical Examiner, written by Patricia Cornwell. It falls within the medical-thriller genre. I bought two sets. The other set is for my daughter, although I know she isn’t particularly interested in thriller novels. Since she studies medicine, I’m hoping she will enjoy them anyway. I haven’t read the series myself, and I never really planned to. I’m not a big fan of mystery, thriller, or crime novels.
So, what do I read today? I read about wealth and happiness, particularly a Harvard survey examining the relationship between the two. Most people assume that happiness keeps climbing with every additional dollar. The research suggests otherwise, and that is where it gets interesting. In the Harvard Study: Happiness and Wealth Among Millionaires, a survey of 4,155 millionaires found that increasing net worth from $1.5 million to $8 million was not associated with a statistically significant increase in happiness. Above roughly $8–10 million, happiness did increase—but only modestly. Across all the millionaires surveyed, the average happiness score was 7.8 out of 10.
I live a private life without having much privacy. Privacy, is priceless—like being able to live in your house without strangers around. My house is quite full of helpers. I suppose that is one of the trade-offs of money. I need things to be done properly, precisely, and on time. More importantly, I need everything to continue running smoothly even when I am not at home. That means having people I can trust to keep the household functioning without me having to be physically present. I have a personal assistant, and now, in this AI era, I also have two robotic assistants that function remarkably well. One manages part of my work at home, while the other handles some of my office-related tasks.
It is almost like having another pair of eyes around. For example, if a cat sits or walks on my car, the assistant will message me as soon as it detects movement. I can even chat with her almost like I would with a human. My wife doesn’t like it. She says it’s scary. Perhaps she has a point. Technology can make life extraordinarily convenient, but sometimes convenience comes with a strange feeling. The more things we delegate, the more carefully we have to think about what we actually want to keep for ourselves. Money can buy efficiency. It can buy time. It can buy convenience. But I suppose the more interesting question is whether it can buy the feeling that all of those things are enough.
Will continue writing.
The four tiny humans are awake and ready to rock the world.
