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Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

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Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#41

Post by Comevius »

antman wrote: post #35

Oh yes Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This article kind of mixes different definitions of happiness. There’s the constitutional reference which comes from ancient greek roman philosophy and its origin is Aristotelian Happiness as “Evdemonia” in Aristotelian scripts (Eudemonia in wikipedia) which more accurately translates as having “good demons” with you, which can be interpreted as feeling content/lucky…

We don't buy the next iPhone because it has a better camera, but because it makes us feel not being left behind. I routinely see people who can't afford one splurging on the newest iPhone and AirPods. People even wear fake AirPods.

Radiohead has an entire album about how fake and ultimately unfulfilling this is, but the problem is that we live in a society, and nobody wants to be an outlier. I may like the sound quality of my old earphones, but I still feel a tingle of shame when everyone else is sporting AirPods. We are evolved to follow norms, those who don't were ostracised from the community with dire consequences. This kind of fake happiness is thus an advantage.

Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#42

Post by thenerdhead »

I think you can simplify this.

Consider your wants and needs.

Most of us get stuck in our wants. We want to get a promotion, we want a nice car, we want a perfect family vacation.

But do we need any of those? Not necessarily.

We get stuck on the treadmill by not knowing the difference of our wants and needs. When you realize you don’t need the things you want, you focus more on the things you need.

Introspection in my opinion helps you find your inner happiness in discerning your needs from wants. This is why many ancient philosophers believed you can be plenty happy with “enough”.

Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#44

Post by antman »

Comevius wrote: post #41
antman wrote: post #35

Oh yes Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This article kind of mixes different definitions of happiness. There’s the constitutional reference which comes from ancient greek roman philosophy and its origin is Aristotelian Happiness as “Evdemonia” in Aristotelian scripts (Eudemonia in wikipedia) which more accurately translates as having “good demons” with you, which can be interpreted as feeling content/lucky…

We don't buy the next iPhone because it has a better camera, but because it makes us feel not being left behind. I routinely see people who can't afford one splurging on the newest iPhone and AirPods. People even wear fake AirPods. Radiohead has an entire album about how fake and ultimately unfulfilling this is, but the problem is that we live in a society, and nobody wants to be an outlier. I may like the sound qual…

We don’t disagree! I did not say we buy the new thing because it has a better camera experience, I said we are buying it because we are told others are having a better camera experience which we will not witness anyway

Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#46

Post by quickthrower2 »

p1esk wrote: post #2

Pretty sure I’d be happier if I didn’t have to work for a living.

I recommend doing a hardcore survival course. You’ll come back knowing 1. you don’t need a job (you do need an occupation…) and 2. why you appreciate modern life, while at the same time why modern life is a bit sad, taking us away from our true habitat.

Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#47

Post by Comevius »

antman wrote: post #44
Comevius wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't buy the next iPhone because it has a better camera, but because it makes us feel not being left behind. I routinely see people who can't afford one splurging on the newest iPhone and AirPods. People even wear fake AirPods. Radiohead has an entire album about how fake and ultimately unfulfilling this is, but the problem is that we live in a society, and nobody wants to be an outlier. I may like the sound qual…

We don’t disagree! I did not say we buy the new thing because it has a better camera experience, I said we are buying it because we are told others are having a better camera experience which we will not witness anyway

The most expensive iPhone variant (Pro Max) has the best camera, but the bulk of the social value is having a contemporary iPhone, which is an iPhone with a notch, X and newer. Social value hinges on obvious differences. Cameras are used for selfies and art. As long as there are no obvious differences a better camera wouldn't trigger our fear of being ostracised. A new kind of camera, like everyone suddenly using front-facing cameras, or everyone suddenly taking 3D selfies with a new camera would. It's a two-way street though, if most people think that 3D selfies are not it your new camera is now a source of embarrassment.

Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#48

Post by apostate »

binbag wrote: post #45
apostate wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author has a PhD in psychology, fwiw.

Great, I've got one of those too. It doesn't mean you can't bullshit.

I wasn't making a value judgement on the piece (or the author's credentials). My point was that someone took the time to share something with the world and you dismissed it after making (incorrect) assumptions about their background. You'll miss out on a lot of good stuff if you've already cast judgement before you finish reading the title.

In any case, it's a does offer a few non-BS pieces of advice that may be useful to some.

Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#49

Post by b3lvedere »

xelxebar wrote: post #33
b3lvedere wrote: post #29

"Commercial breaks––people actually enjoy TV more with commercials". Maybe most people, but i hate forced commercials. I rather pause the video, do something else for a while and resume the video. "Setpiece escape room experiences, like climbing into a coffin " I have been in a real coffin a few hours once for a halloween fright night. Pretty comfy things. Felt quite relaxed.

> Maybe most people, but i... You are Most People: > Though people say they prefer to watch television without ads, they sometimes enjoy programs that have commercial interruptions more. The surprising claim isn't that most people say they enjoy commercials, it's that TV programs with commercial interruptions tend to correlate with people reporting higher enjoyment of the TV program despite claiming that the would pr…

I can understand that process. Still i like personal control of my breaks :)

Re: Hacking the Hedonic Treadmill

#50

Post by harvie »

andybak wrote: post #23

> flight of beer First time I've ever heard it called that - and I've had several.

But you have to drink fast, otherwise the last beer gets warm and looses foam before you drink the other beers. Beer without foam (or worse, the warm beer) might be acceptable in some countries, but it's just not what we do here in Czech republic.
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