We don't just want happiness; we want to be happier than others.
I found this quote this week which really resonated:
"If you only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are"
Montesquieu said this 300 years ago. We're still working on this one. — Tim Urban
This is smart.
Humans are comparative, relative beings.
We don't just judge what we are in isolation, we judge it as a part of the entire hierarchy of those around us.
It's not just about being in a good situation, it's about being in a better situation than we were before, and also a better one than the people we're around, and also a better one than our parents were in when they were our age.
Also, because everyone usually only shows the world the best of themselves, this means we see our own misery and failings from a front row seat while we watch the highlight reel of everyone else.
This makes us think that other people are doing better than they really are, and we feel the delta between where we are and where we imagine they are.
This is a reason that I don't think Universal Basic Income is a solution if AI automation takes all our jobs and starts producing better podcasts than me.
As soon as all humans reach an acceptable level of existence, they start wanting to push for more in order to stand out from the crowd.
And a flat hierarchy doesn't stick about for long.
If everyone earns the same amount of money, people will just find something else to compete on.
Roll on 2050 when we're all collecting leaves or wives or social credit system points or something.