Week 37 Day 5: Hedonic Adaptation: The Happiness Treadmill

The new thing makes you happy. Then it becomes normal. Then you need a newer, better thing to feel happy again. This is the hedonic treadmill: a perpetual cycle of desire, acquisition, adaptation, and...

The new thing makes you happy. Then it becomes normal. Then you need a newer, better thing to feel happy again. This is the hedonic treadmill: a perpetual cycle of desire, acquisition, adaptation, and new desire that drives consumption without increasing long-term happiness.