I don’t disagree at all with someone who would take the $36M, but the idea that it’s the “only logical choice” is simply incorrect.
For me, $1 million would allow me to change my life in huge ways. I’m not in poverty, but I’m also a long way from feeling financially secure. $1 million would give me the opportunity, the breathing room, to figure out what to do next. I could, with a 5% investment return, retire right now and get a raise out of doing so; or I could move my family to a home with fewer stupid things to repair; or I could make a now-or-never decision to try my hand at full-time writing. It would give me a lot of possibilities.
$36 million wouldn’t actually give me that many more possibilities, except for the chance to be more generous with charities. I don’t have many needs within that financial stratum.
And I’ve played enough role-playing games to know how often 1-in-30 chances come up. The idea that one out of every 30 planes crash is kind of hilarious (like, every time you go to the airport, one of the gates you go past is full of folks who will be dead within the day? right). 97% includes a huge failure rate, and if we’re talking about changing my life, I don’t want a failure rate anywhere near that high.