Dr. Laurie Santos

And so I think that's one thing to remember.

And so I think that's one thing to remember.

We're not built evolutionarily to be happy.

We're not built evolutionarily to be happy.

We're built evolutionarily to be like gravy, anxious, threat-focused individuals, right?

We're built evolutionarily to be like gravy, anxious, threat-focused individuals, right?

But in terms of some of the specifics, I think there's some ways our minds are wired to mess us up.

But in terms of some of the specifics, I think there's some ways our minds are wired to mess us up.

The big one is that we're built to get used to stuff over time, right?

The big one is that we're built to get used to stuff over time, right?

This is what psychologists call hedonic adaptation, which is just a fancy way of saying, if you have something for a while, you stop noticing how good it is over time.

This is what psychologists call hedonic adaptation, which is just a fancy way of saying, if you have something for a while, you stop noticing how good it is over time.

You know that if you get a new phone, a new tech gadget, when you hit a certain salary level at work, at first that feels amazing, but six months in, it's just your phone, it's just what you make, right?

You know that if you get a new phone, a new tech gadget, when you hit a certain salary level at work, at first that feels amazing, but six months in, it's just your phone, it's just what you make, right?

You're kind of ready for the next change.

You're kind of ready for the next change.

That's all well and good when it comes to the bad things in life, that it's good that we get used to the yucky stuff.

That's all well and good when it comes to the bad things in life, that it's good that we get used to the yucky stuff.

But it's really bad when we get used to all the great things in life.

But it's really bad when we get used to all the great things in life.