| |
| Blog: Society Made
Me A Hedonist |
| |
 |
|
Hallo... according to a study
conducted by someone somewhere, Americans are about as happy now as
they were in 1946! Sounds untrue, since we have lots of fancy
technology at our fingertips these days. We have gadgets in all shapes
and sizes to make our lives easier and faster. Well, then why are we
unhappy or not as happy as we should be?
This weekend, I went to purchase a scanner and the checkout lady
insisted I purchase insurance for the next two years. What? Are you
kidding me, two years of insurance for a gadget that will be obsolete
perhaps before the end of 2005? No way! The way technology is heading,
a scanner model 5 times as good will be out in the market in no time.
Guess what? My attitude and my approach to technology is the problem,
accordingly to a certain study. I constantly experience a phenomenon
psychologists call, "hedonic adaptation." In a nutshell, the new
gadget comes out, I buy it, I get bored, the next model comes out, I
buy, I get bored, etc. I am not alone, most of us behave this way.
Gosh, society made me a hedonist?!
Check out MIT's Technology Review - January 2004, specially the article
"Technology and Happiness." This magazine as a whole is one of the best I have read!
February 14th, 2005 top
|
