The hedonic treadmill
 

I'd never heard this term before today. Fascinating. It explains a lot. I'm making a vow to jump of the damned thing in 2010. Who's with me?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

I dunno, it seems to have some advantages if you're on the way down. :)

John

This is gonna piss off allot of wing nuts.

"money does not buy happiness and that the pursuit of money as a way to reach this goal is futile" :D

Never been on it so I would not know.

I came to the conclusion years ago that money is an object that you give to people to make them go away.

Case in point, loan $20 to an asshole you don't like and you'll never see him again.

There's more to being a hedonist than having money.

Chas

I learned a long time ago that if you want to help a junkie or an alcoholic, give them a $20 and you have made a fellow human truely happy.

It seems the same folks who believe the wealthy "earned it" are the same folks that will not give to the desperate.

go figure

Very interesting. I found that once I latched onto a decent paying job, ($50-$60k/yr.), my desire for more faded. I have my little house, nice car, kickass stereo, I'm certainly not going hungry, and I'm able to save for retirement. I guess you could call that "happy". But, it amazes me the people who can't understand that. "There's so much more!; Start your own business, make your fortune, go back to school, you're only 45 you could still make your millions!" Why can't they understand that I don't NEED all of that and that I see the pursuit of it as an unnecessary burden?

I once knew a man who was highly educated and had reached a top managerial position. He was a Plant Manager at his old job, but came to work with us as a machinist, which was what he started out as. I asked why he would take such a big step down. He said, "David, at that level you are married to your job. People calling you day and night, bothering you while you are on vacation, expecting you and your family to show up at functions, your life is no longer your own. Now, I just come in, work off whatever jobs they have for me, and go home. The pay is only a third what I used to make, but it's not bad. I love this." Of course he had already made lots of money. Having been to his home, I could see this. So.......

Just thought of this, 'cuz that was one example I've seen of someone "Stepping off" of the the hedonistic treadmill. And he was a happy man.

Dave

But why on earth get on it in the first place? That was the bit that I never could understand. They said you have the right to pursue happiness, they never said (or even implied) that you would ever catch it. The best thing is to quietly go about your life and let it find you.

[QUOTE=merrylander;11227]But why on earth get on it in the first place? [QUOTE]

I'll tell you why. It is part of the American culture. I though success was measured by economic achievement. It's not.

Actually, I think the "treadmill" is really only a means of observing what's postulated as being a characteristic of human nature: that we experience a relatively fixed state of happiness, regardless of circumstances. The treadmill is merely the instrument for determining changes in our circumstances against which our degree of happiness can be measured.

John