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People have fridges, they have color TV, et cetera, they have internet. Things that, whenever it happens, people say, it's amazing, it's fantastic. But when you ask now, they don't feel happier. And that's something you see in most countries, that when you look at countries, apart from the very poor countries, which... They get sanitation, they get water, et cetera.
If you're from a low- or middle-income country to a rich country, it's very flat. Happiness is very flat. So that is true. Nonetheless, at the bottom end, there are things which can improve life satisfaction. So if you move from being homeless to having a house, that improves in the long term your life satisfaction.
If you're from a low- or middle-income country to a rich country, it's very flat. Happiness is very flat. So that is true. Nonetheless, at the bottom end, there are things which can improve life satisfaction. So if you move from being homeless to having a house, that improves in the long term your life satisfaction.
If you're from a low- or middle-income country to a rich country, it's very flat. Happiness is very flat. So that is true. Nonetheless, at the bottom end, there are things which can improve life satisfaction. So if you move from being homeless to having a house, that improves in the long term your life satisfaction.
Yeah, so one thing which is possible is that, you know, your hedonic signals, if you think about the modern life that we are living, when we have food on the table, when we have, like, you know, sanitations, water, et cetera, that's a good life. I mean, ancestors didn't have that.
Yeah, so one thing which is possible is that, you know, your hedonic signals, if you think about the modern life that we are living, when we have food on the table, when we have, like, you know, sanitations, water, et cetera, that's a good life. I mean, ancestors didn't have that.
Yeah, so one thing which is possible is that, you know, your hedonic signals, if you think about the modern life that we are living, when we have food on the table, when we have, like, you know, sanitations, water, et cetera, that's a good life. I mean, ancestors didn't have that.
So we are in the range of the good life, which, in a way, the basic signal that we can get, we can still learn that we can do better, but... We're already doing very well relative to the kind of things that our ancestors were doing.
So we are in the range of the good life, which, in a way, the basic signal that we can get, we can still learn that we can do better, but... We're already doing very well relative to the kind of things that our ancestors were doing.
So we are in the range of the good life, which, in a way, the basic signal that we can get, we can still learn that we can do better, but... We're already doing very well relative to the kind of things that our ancestors were doing.
But if you are in a life where your life is threatened because you don't have a home, your health is threatened because you don't have access to good food or protection, etc., that may still give you signals that, you know, that's not good from an evolutionary point of view. So I think there's something where... Oh, that's so interesting.
But if you are in a life where your life is threatened because you don't have a home, your health is threatened because you don't have access to good food or protection, etc., that may still give you signals that, you know, that's not good from an evolutionary point of view. So I think there's something where... Oh, that's so interesting.
But if you are in a life where your life is threatened because you don't have a home, your health is threatened because you don't have access to good food or protection, etc., that may still give you signals that, you know, that's not good from an evolutionary point of view. So I think there's something where... Oh, that's so interesting.
No, no, exactly. I think you're right. And I have nonetheless... So all this vision is a bit depressing because... It can be depressing. You know, Kahneman described himself, Daniel Kahneman, the psychologist, described himself as a cheerful optimist, a pessimist, a cheerful pessimist.
No, no, exactly. I think you're right. And I have nonetheless... So all this vision is a bit depressing because... It can be depressing. You know, Kahneman described himself, Daniel Kahneman, the psychologist, described himself as a cheerful optimist, a pessimist, a cheerful pessimist.
No, no, exactly. I think you're right. And I have nonetheless... So all this vision is a bit depressing because... It can be depressing. You know, Kahneman described himself, Daniel Kahneman, the psychologist, described himself as a cheerful optimist, a pessimist, a cheerful pessimist.
I like that because, you know, you don't tell yourself stories about how the world is. You know, you take it as it is, so it's a bit pessimistic. But... Actually, you can still be cheerful in your life. As a person, I'm going to be cheerful, and Daniel Kahneman was as well. Anyway, the thing I wanted to say about the habituation is that there's a positive aspect to it.
I like that because, you know, you don't tell yourself stories about how the world is. You know, you take it as it is, so it's a bit pessimistic. But... Actually, you can still be cheerful in your life. As a person, I'm going to be cheerful, and Daniel Kahneman was as well. Anyway, the thing I wanted to say about the habituation is that there's a positive aspect to it.
I like that because, you know, you don't tell yourself stories about how the world is. You know, you take it as it is, so it's a bit pessimistic. But... Actually, you can still be cheerful in your life. As a person, I'm going to be cheerful, and Daniel Kahneman was as well. Anyway, the thing I wanted to say about the habituation is that there's a positive aspect to it.
It can be a bit depressing, but there's a positive aspect to it. It's that the... the rest point of happiness where we come back to is not neutral. And there's good reasons for it, which we can come to it if you want. But, you know, if you take a scale from one to 10 and you ask people how happy you are, people don't say, I'm kind of neutral on average. They won't say five. They would say seven.