Fair enough - I think it's a subjective thing and also depends on your current financial circumstances. I'm a starving startup founder, so the hope represents a real escape from my current financial circumstances.
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.
I totally understand you! I'm a software engineer since 2006 and even though I followed a classical career (in Eastern Europe), we (me, my wife and our daughter) were struggling financially for the first approx 9 years.
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)
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.