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pcmoney | 3 years ago

We have it way better than almost any period in history and are profoundly unhappy.

Also, we always like to think we will be happy “once I have…X” and then we get X and say well actually what I need is Y.

Most unhappiness is driven by vanity and desire (a bargain you make with yourself where you chose to be unhappy until you get something) to be better than our peers.

Until you can be content with nothing you wont be content even with everything.

If people can be happy in concentration camps we can be happy in dead end office jobs. They cant stop us from being happy.

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taylorius|3 years ago

How are we measuring "better"? If suicide rates have risen significantly, then perhaps there are ways in which our modern paradise is worse than the past.

kayamon|3 years ago

> If people can be happy in concentration camps we can be happy in dead end office jobs.

I don't think people in concentration camps are happy.

carabiner|3 years ago

He's probably referring to the book Man's Search for Meaning. The book's conclusion is a bit controversial for this.

WalterSear|3 years ago

This is an article about clinical depression, not 'unhappiness'. While distress can result in clinical depression, they aren't at all the same thing. One gets better if the stressor is removed, the other does not.