One of the irritating things about money is that its value, and the extent to which you can top out your use for it, very much varies according to your passions.
For example, both Charles Stross and I are creatives with a passion for telling stories - but the media we strongly prefer have pretty dramatic effects on the utility of money for both of us.
He mentions having already effectively topped out on the utility of cash for him - as a novelist, there's a limited extent to which more money helps him fulfil his passion.
By contrast, the utility of cash for me tops out around the $300m / yr mark, that being the cost of making and marketing a top-end feature film every year. Below that, there is definitely utility in every dollar as far as Doing What I Like goes - although of course diminishing returns still apply.
And for some people - like Elton Musk, whom he mentions - there is effectively no top end in sight. If your passion is to get to Mars, you really don't hit a point where more money wouldn't be helpful.
For example, both Charles Stross and I are creatives with a passion for telling stories - but the media we strongly prefer have pretty dramatic effects on the utility of money for both of us.
He mentions having already effectively topped out on the utility of cash for him - as a novelist, there's a limited extent to which more money helps him fulfil his passion.
By contrast, the utility of cash for me tops out around the $300m / yr mark, that being the cost of making and marketing a top-end feature film every year. Below that, there is definitely utility in every dollar as far as Doing What I Like goes - although of course diminishing returns still apply.
And for some people - like Elton Musk, whom he mentions - there is effectively no top end in sight. If your passion is to get to Mars, you really don't hit a point where more money wouldn't be helpful.