Adapting to the trap of life itself (video)

In other words, the best life can offer isn't really that good, but the worst that it can offer is truly awful.

Great way to put it.

The disability/lottery winner study that is so often cited as evidence of hedonic adaptation is riddled with methodological problems. It is true that lottery winners quickly adapt, and are unable to derive continued joy from their newfound wealth. But those with disabilities do not adapt nearly as easily

Exactly! Gilbert makes a point than in 1 year their happiness level will be the same. Fine, but how will each of them tend to feel during that year? I imagine the lottery winner will have a much more pleasant road to the same level of happiness than the person who became disabled. The first will have that exalted, unforgettable emotions of 'wow! i won! unbelievable! its me! im the winner! omg! im so happy!' when he will first hear the news. Short lived? Perhaps. But such short-lived but very strong positive emotions are precious, we tend to go back to them in our memories and think 'at least i've experienced that in my life. i don't know if other people were lucky enough, but i was'. And then I would imagine there would be at least a few more pleasant moments of buying the stuff one has always dreamt of, going travelling, celebratng with friends etc... Then the happiness level will gradually decline to level with the disabled guy's a year after. And I don't think it needs to be explained how that other guy's road to the 'average' happiness level wouldn't be so rosy. He, on the contrary, would have to fight depression, the feelings of worthlessness, guilt, helplessness before he can drag himself to the 'normal' state. Comparing just the end result without taking into account the part of life that preceeded it is a little dishonest.

The paradox of life is this. The upside is quickly "adapted" away, but the downside is not. Similarly, the upside is capped, but the downside is limitless.

Another quotable passage from you. I fully agree.

Something from the comment section of Youtube:

" Boo hoo.. I'm so sad and it seams that I can never be happy.

I've been promised by mommy that I can be whatever I want and that happiness will come to me in the end. Woe is me for even if I'm a beautiful woman, I still am not given everything I can think of on a golden platen, people still claim that I must be responsible for my actions and decisions and thus I am unhappy :(( "
RadicalAwesomeness

Some people can only imagine someone being unhappy when things go wrong in their own lives. They're probably never bothered too much by anything but their own well-being. If someone is beautiful - why wouldn't they simply enjoy their pleasant lives full of opportunities? It's not like they should care about world they're living in and how others have it and what's the point of suffering in this world. No, that's too human! One should be a monkey. Got a banana? Then what are you yapping about? Eat it and be happy!

I'm not ready to check out that story you've mentioned yet. I probably will later. But I've seen similar and it was horrible. And the opposition to assisted suicide made it worse, too.

(In other words, I don't care how bad things are, find a way to be positive. When you talk down on life, about wanting to die, you make me feel scared that the world is not just after all. You ruin my picnic, my preferred view of life, and you dampen my feelings, which are the only things that really matter in the end).

Yeah, it's from this kind of people that I should expect lots of hate for what I'm saying. There they are trying their best to keep their delusion of a just and pretty world going and I'm shaking it's foundation.

Unfortunately I can't view the whole video on my slow connection, but I like the start in text.

How about downloading it first? Or do you get billed for traffic? Because there are ways to download from youtube. Used to work.

They are simply a part of what their tribe or community is, and so don't feel trapped, because they don't have this sense of a burdened self, separate.

Hmm... There may be some truth to that, too.

There is an interesting middle ground I think in life where people can have very real success and very real failure. I think we are all much more of a product of our nation, town, group, family, than we'd like to admit.. so our personalities themselves, are adaptations to a trap;

Sure. I don't think of myself as anythig more than a product of the circumstances I grew in and perhaps some biological legacy. The self still feels real, though. But I imagine how it would feel just as real had it turned out to be drastically different due to the different factors infuencing this particular brain in my head))

I think you were clear the first time)) And funny you should mention clay.

I really know what you mean. I probably have mentioned this before on my blog, that creativity can bring amazing satisfaction from the whole process that's not just 1 minute long, it lasts and lasts. The inspiration, the curiosity, the discovery, the attention focus - everything united in one state that sort of creates a whole new reality.

But it's not really the topic of the video.

Tim, I'm just replying to your comment for the sake of the readers, I don't expect you to reply after we've had our long discussion in another post.

Did you know that there is also a psychological bias in which people obsess over bad stuff more than good stuff ? Check it out. Something like 'loss aversion'

I don't think there is such psychological bias. Loss aversion, or risk aversion, can be a strategy, or a predominant motivation to avoid failure. It's not about 'obsessing' over bad stuff (that would be a phobia which isn't a bias, it's a disorder). We have a strong optimism bias most likely because evolutionarity it helped people survive and optimists were the ones who kept trying and fighting and passed on their genes. Those who sat on a rock thinking 'what's the point, life is shit, I'm gonna be eaten anyway' - got eaten more often.

massive bias towards reporting negative news in the media.

I keep hearing this argument. We've gotten so used to censoring the bad stuff out we consider the overwhelmingly enjoyable content in media a norm! Dozens of entertainment shows going one after another ... but then a little reality check from the news and people call that a 'negative bias'. I guess if news were showing teletubbies jumping that would have been fine and balanced. News are supposed to inform us of the dangers so we can act to protect ourselves and of the current problems we as a society are facing so we can fix them if we so choose and of people who are in trouble so we can help them if we care to. But sure, we can relace the upsetting news with an American Idol why not.

some risks are rational

sure, but it doesn't have any relation to the subject of the video.

I'm wondering - do you think anyone today is truly happy..'legitimately' as you seem to allude to, or are even the flourishing people just playing tricks on themselves?

That wasn't the main point either, and I don't have anything against 'synthetic happiness'. The point was precisely the last line in the video "Staying alive and claiming to enjoy it is no more a proof of the wonderfulness of life
than an amputee's claim they are happy having been in an accident is a proof of the wonderfulness of accidents and amputations." It was in response to those people who argue that since the majority of people claim to be happy to be alive, life must be a good thing. That's all.

thank you, it puts a smile on my face to know I don't only create haters for myself but that some people actually find what I say resonating with how they feel/think and helpful.

Tim,

no worries. I have no interest in dramas, I care about the ideas. Sometimes different emotions can appear, we're only humans, but it's good when we're making some effort to concentrate on the arguments and whether or not they make sense regardless of how they make us feel.

Also - I'm not too concerned if my comment goes with the point of your video or not. I just comment what I find interesting

I like to keep my comment section relevant to the subject of the post. In almost any forum there is a topic, this way it's easier to follow and more pleasant to read. So I will have to either delete or move (if there is a relevant other entry) offtopic comments.

Also - your English seems very good

It is, at least when I read/write. But regardless, people don't always understand each other even if they speak one language, that's normal.