Thursday, October 03, 2002
Can't we all just be happy forever?
According to David Myers and Donald Campbell, the answer to the question: "can't we all just be happy forever?" is:
...no: If you woke up tomorrow to your utopia--perhaps a world with no bills, no ills, all As, someone who loves you unreservedly--you would feel euphoric, for a time. But before long, you would soon recalibrate your adaptation level. Before long you would again sometimes feel gratified (when achievements surpass expectations), sometimes feel deprived (when they fall below), and sometimes feel neutral. That helps explain why, despite the realities of triumph and tragedy, million-dollar lottery winners and people who are paralyzed report roughly similar levels of happiness. It also explains why material wants can be insatiable--why many a child "needs" just one more Nintendo game. Or why Imelda Marcos, surrounded by poverty while living in splendor as wife of the Philippines' president, bought 1060 pairs of shoes. When the victor belongs to the spoils and the possessor is possessed by possessions, adaptation level has run amuck.
...no: If you woke up tomorrow to your utopia--perhaps a world with no bills, no ills, all As, someone who loves you unreservedly--you would feel euphoric, for a time. But before long, you would soon recalibrate your adaptation level. Before long you would again sometimes feel gratified (when achievements surpass expectations), sometimes feel deprived (when they fall below), and sometimes feel neutral. That helps explain why, despite the realities of triumph and tragedy, million-dollar lottery winners and people who are paralyzed report roughly similar levels of happiness. It also explains why material wants can be insatiable--why many a child "needs" just one more Nintendo game. Or why Imelda Marcos, surrounded by poverty while living in splendor as wife of the Philippines' president, bought 1060 pairs of shoes. When the victor belongs to the spoils and the possessor is possessed by possessions, adaptation level has run amuck.
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