“I don’t need a Porsche or Ferrari,” she said. “I don’t have an affluent lifestyle.”

I can’t afford a fancy car, so it would be easy for me to say sour grapes like that. I have to be honest with you, however. I was an avid subscriber to a magazine called Motor Trend without interruption for almost 20 years in my prior life. I was fascinated with cars and I dreamed to own one or two copies of those that would make me look good, that would make the valet at Ritz Carlton say, “Sir, you can park right here. People would love to see a beauty like this at our front door.”

I didn’t make the statement at the beginning of this article. An English astronomer with the name of Jocelyn Bell Burnell did. And she could afford it. She just won 3 million dollars in the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, one of the most prestigious awards in science, for the discovery of radio pulsars in 1967 when she was a graduate student at University of Cambridge.

Is it wrong to buy a Porsche, Ferrari or something exotic like that? Shouldn’t you feel guilty for spending so much money on a car? No and no; it’s a personal choice. If it makes you happy, go for it. There’s also a practical reason that I encourage you to do it. If the whole world is as cheap as I am, who is going to pay the salaries for the workers who grind their noses in the Porsche and Ferrari factories every day? So if you have the financial means and taste for nice and pricey things, please buy some. It will make you happy and in turn, make many other people happy too.

What did Dr. Burnell buy with her award money? She donated the entire sum to the Institute of Physics “to fund women, under-represented ethnic minority and refugee students to become physics researchers.” She spent it on her brand of happiness.

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