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I think it's simple: Perspective, and emotional fatigue. The first time <insert good thing> happens to you, you might be overwhelmed with excitement and joy. T

I think it's simple: Perspective, and emotional fatigue. The first time <insert good thing> happens to you, you might be overwhelmed with excitement and joy. The 85th time, not so much. Hopefully you still appreciate it, but for the same dramatic response, the reward center needs more. Anything that happens to you 85 times isn't special enough to be life-changing, by definition. The first time <insert bad thing> happens to you, you might be crushed. By the 5th time it happens to you, or you've seen it happen to others, you are just kind of immune. You know bad things happen, and you either decide to move forward or you do not. Interestingly though: seeing someone else experience the now-banal-to-you positive thing can be it's own reward. Watching a child's first taste of ice cream is somehow magical. Or a puppy's first experience of snow. And we try to have patience for the corresponding first-negative experiences too. A child who does not get exactly what they wanted for dinner, or who must go home from the park earlier than he or she might like... (Examples above intentionally light-weight. There are real bad things that happen to people, but the level of emotional energy elicited by the trivialities can be enormous!)

niknoble 5y ago
If this were the whole story, it would mean that a man who had been in a coma his whole life up to 60 would have the same emotional control as a little kid. For example, he would cry at losing a board game. That's very hard to believe. I'm pretty sure the difference between old people and young people is mostly just energy. Old people can't feel intense emotions for the same reason they can't run a marathon. They just get fatigued too easily.
- quesera 5y ago
  That's an interesting idea. I wonder if there is any data on that sort of thing. Anecdotally, though much less dramatically: When my Mom switched from glasses to contact lenses (and received an improved prescription), her sense of happiness and wonder at being able to see the details of tree leaves, etc, is something that I still remember a few decades later.

niknoble 5y ago

If this were the whole story, it would mean that a man who had been in a coma his whole life up to 60 would have the same emotional control as a little kid. For example, he would cry at losing a board game. That's very hard to believe. I'm pretty sure the difference between old people and young people is mostly just energy. Old people can't feel intense emotions for the same reason they can't run a marathon. They just get fatigued too easily.

quesera 5y ago
That's an interesting idea. I wonder if there is any data on that sort of thing. Anecdotally, though much less dramatically: When my Mom switched from glasses to contact lenses (and received an improved prescription), her sense of happiness and wonder at being able to see the details of tree leaves, etc, is something that I still remember a few decades later.