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The Hedonic Treadmill

happierhuman.com

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Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#101

Post by SonicSoul »

nvader wrote: post #100
SonicSoul wrote: post #66

The hundreds of hours of dieting, going to the gym, and putting on make-up (or flexing, for men) increase happiness by a colossal 7%. nope nope nope exercising does much more than make you look jacked at the club. It makes your brain release endorphins for immediate mood improvement, and also improves thinking, sleep, and overall well being. The happiest I've felt in my life is when exercising regularly. Actually exe…

I was having an internal tug-of-war about whether to visit the gym when I read this comment. Although I knew this already, this just gave the activation energy to get out of my chair and out the door. Thanks!

enjoy your +7% of happiness!

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#102

Post by conceit »

SonicSoul wrote: post #66

The hundreds of hours of dieting, going to the gym, and putting on make-up (or flexing, for men) increase happiness by a colossal 7%. nope nope nope exercising does much more than make you look jacked at the club. It makes your brain release endorphins for immediate mood improvement, and also improves thinking, sleep, and overall well being. The happiest I've felt in my life is when exercising regularly. Actually exe…

> jacked

Do you mean jagged, as in jagged edge? That is how new words are born, people accept it as if words wouldn't have to mean anything.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#103

Post by WalterSear »

ZenoArrow wrote: post #98
WalterSear wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is. We just don't have the right science yet.

It's really not. Science, or rather the scientific method, applies only to that which can be quantified, as otherwise you'll have no way to accurately verify the success of a scientific experiment. You can try to quantify happiness, but only superficially, it doesn't accurately describe what happiness is. For example, if I said I was 72% happy today, what does mean objectively (i.e. outside from my personal context)?

Insofar as we can never really know the internal state of anything, and yes, from chemistry, to particle physics to psychology. All we can know for sure is that a machine (we did create) spat out a bunch of numbers and a text book (written by people we don't know) said those numbers were 'correct'.

(Moreover, we already know a lot more about the measurement of internal mental states than you appear to be aware:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23249520 )

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#104

Post by MatthewMcDonald »

conceit wrote: post #102
SonicSoul wrote: post #66

The hundreds of hours of dieting, going to the gym, and putting on make-up (or flexing, for men) increase happiness by a colossal 7%. nope nope nope exercising does much more than make you look jacked at the club. It makes your brain release endorphins for immediate mood improvement, and also improves thinking, sleep, and overall well being. The happiest I've felt in my life is when exercising regularly. Actually exe…

> jacked Do you mean jagged, as in jagged edge? That is how new words are born, people accept it as if words wouldn't have to mean anything.

In this context, jacked is synonymous with muscular.

"I grunt when I get my swell on at the gym. That's 'cause everyone should see how jacked and tan I am."

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#105

Post by cesarbs »

MatthewMcDonald wrote: post #104
conceit wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> jacked Do you mean jagged, as in jagged edge? That is how new words are born, people accept it as if words wouldn't have to mean anything.

In this context, jacked is synonymous with muscular. "I grunt when I get my swell on at the gym. That's 'cause everyone should see how jacked and tan I am."

I love your dictionary-like sample sentence :)

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#106

Post by MatthewMcDonald »

cesarbs wrote: post #105
MatthewMcDonald wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this context, jacked is synonymous with muscular. "I grunt when I get my swell on at the gym. That's 'cause everyone should see how jacked and tan I am."

I love your dictionary-like sample sentence :)

Ha, it's not mine - it's from a YouTube video called My New Haircut (NSFW)

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#107

Post by ctchocula »

stevoski wrote: post #46
brianlweiner wrote: post #26

Studies have cast doubt on whether Subjective Well-Being (SWB) levels actually return to normal after significant life events. [1] [2] So a core element of this post may not even be an actual phenomenon. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17469954 [2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3289759/

> Studies have cast doubt on whether Subjective Well-Being (SWB) levels actually return to normal after significant life events. I had heard (in a TED talk I think) that humans typically need only three months or so to get back to "feeling normal" after a terrible life event. Then I had my one terrible life event (widowed two days after marriage). Boy was that TED talk wrong! The next few years were a desolate wastel…

This is the TED talk you were talking about [0]. I'm sorry for your loss.

[0]: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy?...

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#108

Post by lazyant »

cubano wrote: post #90
guyzero wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I'm not sure I agree with the original author but a modern homeless person can wander into a hospital emergency ward and get treated for a variety of diseases that would have killed a medieval king. Assuming we mean 1,000 years ago and not 10,000 years ago which may actually pre-date kings.

One of my favorite little know facts about how much has really changed with medical treatment... Only 90 years ago, President Calvin Coolidge's 16 year old son died from a foot blister he got while playing lawn tennis on the White House grounds, something that would have probably been easily treated with an OTC anti-bacterial or a quick trip to the doctor nowadays. We hardly have the get "medieval" to see the radical…

Right. Just for contrast, Christopher Reeve (most famous "Superman"actor) died in 2004 of complications of a _bed sore_ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Reeve

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#109

Post by EricDeb »

I'd be curious to see how chronic pain fits into the equation.. I developed a fairly severe neuralgia and it dropped my quality of life about 3 or 4 points on a 1-10 scale.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#110

Post by houselouse »

lazyant wrote: post #108
cubano wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favorite little know facts about how much has really changed with medical treatment... Only 90 years ago, President Calvin Coolidge's 16 year old son died from a foot blister he got while playing lawn tennis on the White House grounds, something that would have probably been easily treated with an OTC anti-bacterial or a quick trip to the doctor nowadays. We hardly have the get "medieval" to see the radical…

Right. Just for contrast, Christopher Reeve (most famous "Superman"actor) died in 2004 of complications of a _bed sore_ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Reeve

...9 years after being thrown off of his horse and living as a quadriplegic, requiring a ventilator
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