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The Hedonic Treadmill

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Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#71

Post by virgil_disgr4ce »

nickff wrote: post #37
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eating freshly cooked meat from a domesticated or game animal is miles better than a rotting piece of garbage in a dumpster sitting in the hot sun. I don't think we're understanding how filthy dumpsters are and how our bodies are not engineered to handle the types of bacteria that grow in those circumstances or just how dangerous and unhealthy urban areas are for the homeless. Even days old dried meat is going to be…

You are romanticizing the hunter-gatherer past. Constantly being on the verge of starvation, eating under-ripe fruit, and scavenging rotten meat off week-old corpses was not a good or 'healthy' life.

I'm not personally familiar with the anthropological evidence, but I strongly, strongly doubt that 'constant verge of starvation' accurately characterizes even a small percentage of the past reality.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#74

Post by dota_fanatic »

virgil_disgr4ce wrote: post #72

"I’m so glad I’m a man. Not only do I not have to give birth, I don’t have to have periods , or change any as many diapers." WTF?? Seriously? I mean, I assume he's trying to be funny, but really?

Didn't you know? Women's hands are more capable of changing diapers due to physiologic differences. /s

No but really it'd be foolish for a man to set aside his endeavors and aspirations and engage in childcare duties like changing diapers; women actually have extra hours built into their day to take care of shit work so in the end it's equal. /s

Seriously though, what a repulsive statement (the quote).

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#75

Post by nitrogen »

blakesterz wrote: post #9
neogodless wrote: post #6

"The material standard of living of a homeless person in modern-day Manhattan is several dozens of times higher than the wealthiest of kings ten thousand years ago." Can someone explain to me what their definition of "standard of living" is in this context? I get that they might have access to cleaner water, but surely easy access to food prepared for you and having a roof over your head in a snowstorm would sound re…

" Material standard of living can be seen in the increase of real incomes that would increase the purchasing power of consumers, and is characterized by the ability to consume goods and services. Non-material standard of living is more qualitative, and refers to the improvements in quality of life and the environment." So (assuming that's the same definition they used) yeah, I guess the material standard of living is…

Both of those (material and environmental) fail to encompass fully other important aspects of a monarch's life, like power and sovereignty/independence, things which modern homeless certainly lack.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#76

Post by tveita »

nickff wrote: post #37
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eating freshly cooked meat from a domesticated or game animal is miles better than a rotting piece of garbage in a dumpster sitting in the hot sun. I don't think we're understanding how filthy dumpsters are and how our bodies are not engineered to handle the types of bacteria that grow in those circumstances or just how dangerous and unhealthy urban areas are for the homeless. Even days old dried meat is going to be…

You are romanticizing the hunter-gatherer past. Constantly being on the verge of starvation, eating under-ripe fruit, and scavenging rotten meat off week-old corpses was not a good or 'healthy' life.

You may be giving hunter-gatherers too little credit. I think erring on the opposite side of romanticizing is just as bad and risks dehumanizing them.

E.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe

"Ian Hodder of Stanford University said, "Göbekli Tepe changes everything". It shows that the erection of monumental complexes was within the capacities of hunter-gatherers and not only of sedentary farming communities as had been previously assumed."

That doesn't look like the work of people perpetually on the verge of starvation.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#77

Post by joe_the_user »

I've read the claim over the years that plastic surgery actually defies the usual reasoning of the hedonic treadmill. Those having plastic surgery tend to stay more-happy over an indefinite period of time.

This is the best survey I could google-up;

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hollywood-phd/201403/do...

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#78

Post by npsimons »

blakesterz wrote: post #7

>>But sunshine after sunshine is correlated with nothing. >> Because if every day was warm and sunny, you would get use to it. That seems really really wrong. I see they cite studies but it just finally got warm and sunny here after a long cold winter and it feels, well, happy :-) Maybe, just maybe, if it was sunny all the time I'd get used to it. But some days wouldn't be sunny, or I'd travel someplace with no sun,…

> That seems really really wrong. I see they cite studies but it just finally got warm and sunny here after a long cold winter and it feels, well, happy :-) Maybe, just maybe, if it was sunny all the time I'd get used to it.

I live somewhere where it's sunny almost all the time. I grew up somewhere where it's sunny almost all the time. I still love going outside into the sunlight for a break.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#79

Post by nickff »

virgil_disgr4ce wrote: post #71
nickff wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are romanticizing the hunter-gatherer past. Constantly being on the verge of starvation, eating under-ripe fruit, and scavenging rotten meat off week-old corpses was not a good or 'healthy' life.

I'm not personally familiar with the anthropological evidence, but I strongly, strongly doubt that 'constant verge of starvation' accurately characterizes even a small percentage of the past reality.

Constant verge of starvation is a very accurate characterization of the reality of the past. Until the 20th century, economists almost universally used population growth and decline as a measure of agricultural (and overall) productivity, because people would have as many children as they could feed. This measure only works if you are on the verge of famine. A quick glance at anthropological evidence will show you that cultures which developed (and advanced) agriculture had much higher population densities; this was not a lifestyle choice, it was a sign that they could feed more people than the hunter-gatherers. Other resources (such as salt and water) also played a part in what population size could be supported, but efficiency of food production was the predominant occupation and concern up until very recently.

The hunter-gatherers were not awash in delicious artisanal wild venison jerky.

Re: The Hedonic Treadmill

#80

Post by shermablanca »

anotherhacker wrote: post #42

The author is flat out wrong. The Hedonic Treadmill has been disproven. Moreover, the author seems to be conflating the concept of the treadmill, with adaptation. The former denotes the subject returns to the original state. The latter recognizes that while we become accustomed to new things, we still improve in happiness. The author is also misquoting, or misunderstanding, Kahneman. Kahneman isn't talking at all abo…

> The material standard of living of a homeless person in modern-day Manhattan is several dozens of times higher than the wealthiest of kings ten thousand years ago.

It was here that I stopped reading.

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