adaptation

Just saw this youtube clip by a comedian, entitled "People are never happy." In it the character makes fun of people who complain about airlines. It really made me think, because I used to fly a lot and airlines really do treat their customers badly. You get no room, bad food, poor service, etc. The airline "experience" is not one to remember. Certainly not for frequent flyers.

However, as was pointed out in the clip, we should be overjoyed. We can fly. We can get from one end of the continent to the other in approximately 5-6 hours, and we are extremely likely to arrive in one piece. It is fast, safe, and relatively inexpensive. Compare that to what transcontinental travel used to be like only a century ago. It took months, one had to endure hardship almost continuously, it was dangerous, it was very expensive, etc.

And therein lies a key lesson about happiness. We constantly adapt and adjust our expectations. And that is one reason why so many people are unhappy, despite being very well off. They always want more. They always think things will be better if they only had that bigger house, that faster car, that latest gadget.

However, as soon as they have it, they take it for granted. There are more gadgets to acquire, better things to possess, more experiences to have. It is a never ending quest. And they are never satisfied.

What does this have to do with the environment you ask? Well, everything, really. It is this never ending desire to want more, to consume more, to waste more that will ultimately drive us to extinction. And we won't be any happier for it. We are just deluding ourselves thinking we need this or that item, adventure, vacation, you name it.

Our consumer society constantly reminds us of all the things we don't have, all the experiences we are not part of, etc. etc. And like defenseless addicts, most of us cannot resist. We need our next hit to be happy.