> Did you know that many people buy lottery tickets week after week based on their understanding that other people are winning, and not their own experience of losing constantly?

Because lottery tickets are entertainment. People with crappy jobs get to imagine telling off their stupid boss and moving to their own private island. The fact that it never happens doesn't mean people won't pay $1 to imagine it. Or for the feeling they get when the numbers are being read and the first two or three actually match once in a while.

There is nothing equivalently exciting about temporarily getting paid 35% more at work.

Probably because a one in tens of millions chance is infinitely larger than a zero in tens of millions chance.

And people say lottery players are bad at math!