The Hedonic Case for Healthy Living
Many of life’s greatest pleasures are reserved only for the healthy
It sucks that so many of the pleasurable things in life are bad for us, right? Wouldn’t it be great if we could sit in front of the TV eating chocolate and drinking wine all day long with no ill effects?
Actually, no.
Even if we could somehow eliminate all the health impacts of such behaviors, they would soon leave us unfulfilled and miserable. We would increasingly numb ourselves to life’s most intense sensory pleasures and, when there is no higher level left, life would become utterly meaningless.
It seems counterintuitive, but the health impact of mindless pursuits of instant pleasure is more of a blessing than a curse. It’s a valuable early warning that we’re pursuing happiness all wrong.
Hedonic Adaptation
The path to meaninglessness briefly outlined above results from something called hedonic adaptation.
The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative…
