The Hedonic Treadmill • Hacker News Board

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#41

Post by pascalxus » Fri, Jun 21, 2019, 6:25 PM UTC

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #18

arketyp wrote: post #4

In the way that being content is an evolutionary disaster, it makes sense that we always have an itch to scratch.

The trouble is advertising and marketing have irritated it so much that we have gone past the point where scratching was good. That itch has turned into a gaping wound filled with puss and blood.

but, are we really so susceptible to advertising and marketing now? I know the baby boomers were with their enormous cars, boats and house purchases and their materialism stuff homes and maxed out credit cards. But, I see the millennial not taking part in that quite to the same extent - i think their percentage of spending on cars, for example, is much lower. We may be in a turning point here where advertising affects us less and less.

Edit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2015/04/28/researc...

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#42

Post by tonyedgecombe » Fri, Jun 21, 2019, 6:52 PM UTC

pascalxus wrote: post #41

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trouble is advertising and marketing have irritated it so much that we have gone past the point where scratching was good. That itch has turned into a gaping wound filled with puss and blood.

but, are we really so susceptible to advertising and marketing now? I know the baby boomers were with their enormous cars, boats and house purchases and their materialism stuff homes and maxed out credit cards. But, I see the millennial not taking part in that quite to the same extent - i think their percentage of spending on cars, for example, is much lower. We may be in a turning point here where advertising affect…

The cynic in me thinks that’s because they have less disposable income.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#43

Post by MattSayar » Fri, Jun 28, 2019, 7:41 PM UTC

gexla wrote: post #28

I think most people referencing this term aren't really talking about a hedonic treadmill. There's a lot of talk about getting richer and not happier. But the key to me is adaptation. As we move from one situation to another we adapt to that situation, better or worse. We may think prison would be total hell, but then get there and find that it's tolerable. Similarly, we could get a windfall or major financial breakt…

Sadly noone answered your question, but luckily I'm here a week later thanks to Kale's hacker newsletter.

No, I don't think the hedonistic treadmill is what pushes us forward, I think "necessity is the mother of invention." And it goes both ways in my opinion; to use your example, a person in prison will adapt and find it's not so bad, but then a lot of prisoners resourcefully create contraband to fulfill their needs, which "pushes them forward." Likewise a rich person may "need" a faster yacht, so they fund technology to invent one, thereby "pushing us forward."