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I think another aspect of this is when life is generally good you start to pay more attention to the little things, and generally there are going to be small an

by yibg 7y ago

I think another aspect of this is when life is generally good you start to pay more attention to the little things, and generally there are going to be small annoyances in life. When someone is fighting to feed their family getting a good meal is a hugely uplifting thing, but when hunger isn’t an issue having food come later than you like at a restaurant becomes annoying. I’ve certainly experienced this in myself growing up. We grew up poor but most things didn’t get us down, they were just normal aspects of life. We had to hunt for bargains, not take vacations, always cook at home. It was the baseline. When we did eat out everyone was looking forward to it and really enjoyed it. Now life in economic sense is measurably better for me, but eating out at whatever place I feel like is the new baseline. I no longer look forward to it, it’s just feeding myself. Now when I can’t decide what I want to have for dinner it becomes a minor annoyance. Something objectively better has become in some ways a worse experience. I try to put things in perspective and be grateful for what I have now, but I admit I don’t always succeed.

lagg 7y ago
You know, all those in this thread revealing their membership of Those-Who-Walk-Uphill-Both-Ways are going to get a serious reprimanding. But yeah I would have to agree with you. Family history of the same kind of poverty shopping. Making a contest of the lowest gas and grocery prices with the membership, food bank and all that. I shat myself when I got an NES from the pawn shop for my birthday once. It certainly instills something in the brain. I mean I'm still the guy that subsists on plain fruits & veggies, noodles, rice, beans, plain oats and the occasional indulgence of pizza and steak. But I'm also not worried or hurting for anything currently and am happier than I've ever been previously. Which I imagine is optimism, and other concerns tend to make other events kind of feel like noise. The cumulative inability to relate to pop culture or current events really wrecks my networking efficiency I feel like. I'm not sure I should be so unaware about the news and encroaching issues. But oh well. The ultimately important things have a way of finding themselves to oneself I guess.
benj111 7y ago
You're referring to the hedonic treadmill[1]. I find it useful to A) be aware of it so you can B) reset it every so often. Objectively we both know it shouldn't be an annoyance choosing food from a menu, so go back to cooking at home for a while, at best you rediscover your love of cooking and don't go back to eating out. At worst you learn to reappreciate just how nice it is having someone else cook. Same principle applies to every expensive thing that you don't now judge to be a luxury. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill
mensetmanusman 7y ago
Same poverty background, also weekly church goers with kids. I didn’t realize that church manifesting a periodic physical act of thanksgiving would act as a reset. I feel my baseline is the same even with wealth beyond what I could have imagined as a kid.

by yibg 7y ago

lagg 7y ago

You know, all those in this thread revealing their membership of Those-Who-Walk-Uphill-Both-Ways are going to get a serious reprimanding. But yeah I would have to agree with you. Family history of the same kind of poverty shopping. Making a contest of the lowest gas and grocery prices with the membership, food bank and all that. I shat myself when I got an NES from the pawn shop for my birthday once. It certainly instills something in the brain. I mean I'm still the guy that subsists on plain fruits & veggies, noodles, rice, beans, plain oats and the occasional indulgence of pizza and steak. But I'm also not worried or hurting for anything currently and am happier than I've ever been previously. Which I imagine is optimism, and other concerns tend to make other events kind of feel like noise. The cumulative inability to relate to pop culture or current events really wrecks my networking efficiency I feel like. I'm not sure I should be so unaware about the news and encroaching issues. But oh well. The ultimately important things have a way of finding themselves to oneself I guess.

benj111 7y ago

You're referring to the hedonic treadmill[1]. I find it useful to A) be aware of it so you can B) reset it every so often. Objectively we both know it shouldn't be an annoyance choosing food from a menu, so go back to cooking at home for a while, at best you rediscover your love of cooking and don't go back to eating out. At worst you learn to reappreciate just how nice it is having someone else cook. Same principle applies to every expensive thing that you don't now judge to be a luxury. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

mensetmanusman 7y ago

Same poverty background, also weekly church goers with kids. I didn’t realize that church manifesting a periodic physical act of thanksgiving would act as a reset. I feel my baseline is the same even with wealth beyond what I could have imagined as a kid.