It's a great post, and I wholeheartedly agree with the general point. However, I believe it would be even more beneficial to explore the impact that external factors and circumstances have on happiness. For me, it's clear that their effect is significant.
There is compelling research indicating that increasing income can indeed boost happiness to some extent. Additionally, certain factors, such as unemployment, seem to decrease happiness in ways that we cannot adapt to easily. I would also assume that aspects like physical safety and the absence of pain have a profound impact on our well-being.
The real challenge, I think, lies in identifying which elements of the external world are more resistant to the hedonic treadmill and focusing on them. Viewing the situation as purely determined and doomed is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I agree. For length considerations, I did not discuss the details of habituation and the fact that it is sometimes only partial. I plan to discuss it in a later post. There are several interesting aspects to this; for instance, the Easterlin paradox points to the fact that income leads to an increase in happiness mostly within countries, but not across countries. When the whole country gets richer, people do not become happier. So, the effect of income is mostly relative and likely linked to status. Rayo and Becker (2007) have a model that provides a possible rationale for partial habituation: our hedonic system may use a larger window of time to estimate the distribution of outcomes we face in some dimensions.
Psychologists strive to make people happier, not happy. It's true that you can't be happy 100% of the time, but that's not the goal. Being 80% happy still feels pretty good.
Many people, especially the ones buying self-help books would probably be good with even 50% of the time.
Given that most people are actually happy most of the time, as noted in the last footnote, these less fortunate self-help book-buying people deserve a lot of attention and support in attaining that.
Yes, people in tough situations can improve their well-being, even simply by having a better material situation. The post is rather addressed to the bulk of people who feel OK and are looking for ways to be happy in life (the audience of the type of books I mentioned at the start).
Your series on the psychology of happiness are really good. Can I translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you, and a description of your newsletter and your series on the psychology of happiness?
I just translated a popular article of Dan Williams.
It's really a great post, but how can we take advantage of this knowledge? I wonder what the practical implications of this information are for our daily lives.
Can we embrace we won't never achieve absolute happiness so...we should focus on the path (just have more fun)? Not just reaching next milestone, but focus on present.
Great question. It's difficult to answer because it's not even clear what we "should" aim for. Is it happiness? We actually don't want happiness if it's not "authentic," a point famously made by Nozick with his "experience machine." If not happiness, then what? I'll discuss these issues in a future post.
"…wellbeing is not so much an outcome or end state as it is a process of fulfilling or realizing one’s daimon or true nature—that is, of fulfilling one’s virtuous potentials and living as one was inherently intended to live."
I think there is a good intuition in this quote. Our hedonic system is likely designed to keep pushing us finding our potential and enjoying when we can reach it.
This should mean that to maximize happiness, success should be continuous and linear, as opposed to exponential which is generally the case for most in life.
I think, there could be habituation to any forseable steady progress that becomes expected. The logic of an optimal hedonic system is to reward only positive surprises. So only a series of positive surprises would keep you all over the moon all the time. The problem is that you cannot be surprised by surprises that happen regularly...
I felt Nettle's remark summarized it aptly. Some parts felt conflicting to spiritual consciousness which leads to a state of happiness, that can't be acquired, worked towards, or lost.
It covers a key intuitive understanding of mine that shaped my life, my corporate leadership approach, my family, my career, and my politics. I have just lacked a good framework as you have provided here. I have called habituation “setting a new normal”, and the Hedonic Treadmill as “always wanting more”. I have concluded this is absolutely evolutionary as we Homo sapiens would have gone extinct by now if not always driven to pursue and accomplish. But it is our blessing and curse because along with progress we have war. Nevertheless, it is something important that we don’t seem to understand.
My view is that our increase in reported unhappiness can be linked directly to two trends. One, in the pursuit of the progress of globalism we have exported so much industry and career opportunity to other countries that we have reduced the opportunities for people to satisfy their Hedonic Treadmill needs. Two, our economic and social progress, including the big increase in education, has led to a new normal expectation for higher level economic and social participation. Throw in social media and stir this pot of mismatched human expectations and needs. It is the general educated, upper class that tends to protest, demand change and reports higher levels of unhappiness.
France has 30,000 bakeries. The US has 3,000. Four massive US food corporations own 80% of all the brands on the grocery store shelf… and the are mechanized. Offshoring and corporate consolidation… workforce automation… these things have some top “thinkers” recommending Universal Basic Income to make up for the lack of good paying, life-satisfying, jobs.
I think we have reached a point where must begin to calculate the system inventory of opportunity that feeds the Hedonic Treadmill as more important than corporate profit and GDP. The wolves of Wall Street might just stick with Vegas or learn how to make goat cheese.
Are there people who are really so shallow as to believe that life satisfaction is nothing more than episodes of laughter? I would never have believed this years ago, but now I guess I do. What if the real problem is that all of these miserable people misunderstand what a meaningful and satisfied life looks like?
100% agree. Habituation means happiness fades quickly. But then how do we explain Golden Retrievers?
It's a great post, and I wholeheartedly agree with the general point. However, I believe it would be even more beneficial to explore the impact that external factors and circumstances have on happiness. For me, it's clear that their effect is significant.
There is compelling research indicating that increasing income can indeed boost happiness to some extent. Additionally, certain factors, such as unemployment, seem to decrease happiness in ways that we cannot adapt to easily. I would also assume that aspects like physical safety and the absence of pain have a profound impact on our well-being.
The real challenge, I think, lies in identifying which elements of the external world are more resistant to the hedonic treadmill and focusing on them. Viewing the situation as purely determined and doomed is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I agree. For length considerations, I did not discuss the details of habituation and the fact that it is sometimes only partial. I plan to discuss it in a later post. There are several interesting aspects to this; for instance, the Easterlin paradox points to the fact that income leads to an increase in happiness mostly within countries, but not across countries. When the whole country gets richer, people do not become happier. So, the effect of income is mostly relative and likely linked to status. Rayo and Becker (2007) have a model that provides a possible rationale for partial habituation: our hedonic system may use a larger window of time to estimate the distribution of outcomes we face in some dimensions.
Psychologists strive to make people happier, not happy. It's true that you can't be happy 100% of the time, but that's not the goal. Being 80% happy still feels pretty good.
Many people, especially the ones buying self-help books would probably be good with even 50% of the time.
Given that most people are actually happy most of the time, as noted in the last footnote, these less fortunate self-help book-buying people deserve a lot of attention and support in attaining that.
Yes, people in tough situations can improve their well-being, even simply by having a better material situation. The post is rather addressed to the bulk of people who feel OK and are looking for ways to be happy in life (the audience of the type of books I mentioned at the start).
Very good. Very good indeed
So you're telling me my happiness is just evolution's carrot on a stick? Well played, natural selection. Well played
Indeed, evolution can be thought of as having made us naive about the whole process to keep us working hard. https://www.optimallyirrational.com/i/145639548/naive-ambitions-a-path-to-motivation
Your series on the psychology of happiness are really good. Can I translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you, and a description of your newsletter and your series on the psychology of happiness?
I just translated a popular article of Dan Williams.
Thanks, Salvador. Yes, it’d be my pleasure for you to translate my post into Spanish.
Dear Lionel, the translation is here, including a description of you and your newsletter (feel free to add or delete whatever you want):
https://estilo.substack.com/p/la-verdad-sobre-la-felicidad/
Fantastico! Very cool that it can reach a broader audience. Thanks for doing that!
It's really a great post, but how can we take advantage of this knowledge? I wonder what the practical implications of this information are for our daily lives.
Can we embrace we won't never achieve absolute happiness so...we should focus on the path (just have more fun)? Not just reaching next milestone, but focus on present.
Great question. It's difficult to answer because it's not even clear what we "should" aim for. Is it happiness? We actually don't want happiness if it's not "authentic," a point famously made by Nozick with his "experience machine." If not happiness, then what? I'll discuss these issues in a future post.
It's WIP: Wellbeing In Process :)
Psychologists Deci and Ryan put it like this:
"…wellbeing is not so much an outcome or end state as it is a process of fulfilling or realizing one’s daimon or true nature—that is, of fulfilling one’s virtuous potentials and living as one was inherently intended to live."
I think there is a good intuition in this quote. Our hedonic system is likely designed to keep pushing us finding our potential and enjoying when we can reach it.
Success in life = genes reproduction
This should mean that to maximize happiness, success should be continuous and linear, as opposed to exponential which is generally the case for most in life.
I think, there could be habituation to any forseable steady progress that becomes expected. The logic of an optimal hedonic system is to reward only positive surprises. So only a series of positive surprises would keep you all over the moon all the time. The problem is that you cannot be surprised by surprises that happen regularly...
Please, please never stop writing. I learn so much from your writing.
Thanks Ram, your feedback is very much appreciated!
I felt Nettle's remark summarized it aptly. Some parts felt conflicting to spiritual consciousness which leads to a state of happiness, that can't be acquired, worked towards, or lost.
Do you mean the state you reach through meditation, for instance? I may talk about it in a later post.
I do like the reference to Daniel Nettle, who imho produces some excellent work. Thank you.
One of the best books on the topic indeed.
This is wonderful.
It covers a key intuitive understanding of mine that shaped my life, my corporate leadership approach, my family, my career, and my politics. I have just lacked a good framework as you have provided here. I have called habituation “setting a new normal”, and the Hedonic Treadmill as “always wanting more”. I have concluded this is absolutely evolutionary as we Homo sapiens would have gone extinct by now if not always driven to pursue and accomplish. But it is our blessing and curse because along with progress we have war. Nevertheless, it is something important that we don’t seem to understand.
My view is that our increase in reported unhappiness can be linked directly to two trends. One, in the pursuit of the progress of globalism we have exported so much industry and career opportunity to other countries that we have reduced the opportunities for people to satisfy their Hedonic Treadmill needs. Two, our economic and social progress, including the big increase in education, has led to a new normal expectation for higher level economic and social participation. Throw in social media and stir this pot of mismatched human expectations and needs. It is the general educated, upper class that tends to protest, demand change and reports higher levels of unhappiness.
France has 30,000 bakeries. The US has 3,000. Four massive US food corporations own 80% of all the brands on the grocery store shelf… and the are mechanized. Offshoring and corporate consolidation… workforce automation… these things have some top “thinkers” recommending Universal Basic Income to make up for the lack of good paying, life-satisfying, jobs.
I think we have reached a point where must begin to calculate the system inventory of opportunity that feeds the Hedonic Treadmill as more important than corporate profit and GDP. The wolves of Wall Street might just stick with Vegas or learn how to make goat cheese.
Lionel, I was wondering has your understanding of the evolutionary underpinnings of happiness affected your ethical views at all?
Are there people who are really so shallow as to believe that life satisfaction is nothing more than episodes of laughter? I would never have believed this years ago, but now I guess I do. What if the real problem is that all of these miserable people misunderstand what a meaningful and satisfied life looks like?