| ▲ | Yossarrian22 13 hours ago | |
That chart showing happiness being flat over 70 years is astounding. I’m certainly happier not having to hand wash dishes or clothes; no king who ever lived before then had access to magic lights that made his bad eyesight perfect, yet for all that the average person is just as happy as they were in the late 40s | ||
| ▲ | chermi 11 hours ago | parent | next [-] | |
I think this fits perfectly with happiness being strongly driven by comparison and expectations. Those comparisons can be real comparisons to other people or imaginary comparisons to hypothetical outcomes. Comparisons are relative so you'd kind of expect them to remain even if the baseline improves. Same with expectations. | ||
| ▲ | wat10000 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |
It's the hedonic treadmill. If you had to hand wash all of your clothes, getting a washing machine would make you very happy... for a little while. After a few weeks or months you'd be back at the baseline. Likewise, if your washing machine broke and you were prevented from replacing it, you'd be unhappy... for a while. | ||
| ▲ | dogleash 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |
> I’m certainly happier not having to hand wash dishes or clothes The prospect of loosing access to those things can seem bleak, but to someone who never knew the luxury of a clothes washing machine it's just another chore. Why would they be any more unhappy? Everyone still does chores. We find ways to avoid letting them make us miserable. | ||