The post is referencing those who are subjects of the happiness research--namely wealthy, first-world people. For those still in extreme poverty as well as the large number of people who have very fortunately exited extreme poverty in the past couple decades, they would very likely not be a part of the paradox of improvement with surveyed lower happiness. They are typically not surveyed, and when they are, they very much appreciate how life is obviously getting better.
Happiness is an incomplete concept for sure. It is also not only measured by material wealth, but that is a very good proxy to a first approximation.
For whom is this written? Do you think your take applies to the 700 million-ish people living in extreme poverty? Would it apply to the 6,400 people who died this year in the Somali civil war? The 9,000 dead in Maghreb? Assuming those people are/were less happy than say you, would it be because they are failing to appreciate how good they got it? Or, maybe they have/had become complacent? Is it not relative? Is it possible that there might be legitimate reasons for people reporting to be less happy? Or, is a lower level of happiness simply a matter of one not understanding and appreciating how lucky they are to live during a time when they can possess a really cool apple watch that King Louis XVI missed out on? Is it possible that happiness isn't determined by how good some people got it? Is it possible that it's more complicated and specific to individual perception and relative circumstances? If I'm starving under a bridge, does it matter to me that some people with the resources and time to blog and podcast from the comfort of their executive homes believe that my life is better than it would have been 100 years ago? Perhaps not.
The post is referencing those who are subjects of the happiness research--namely wealthy, first-world people. For those still in extreme poverty as well as the large number of people who have very fortunately exited extreme poverty in the past couple decades, they would very likely not be a part of the paradox of improvement with surveyed lower happiness. They are typically not surveyed, and when they are, they very much appreciate how life is obviously getting better.
Happiness is an incomplete concept for sure. It is also not only measured by material wealth, but that is a very good proxy to a first approximation.
For whom is this written? Do you think your take applies to the 700 million-ish people living in extreme poverty? Would it apply to the 6,400 people who died this year in the Somali civil war? The 9,000 dead in Maghreb? Assuming those people are/were less happy than say you, would it be because they are failing to appreciate how good they got it? Or, maybe they have/had become complacent? Is it not relative? Is it possible that there might be legitimate reasons for people reporting to be less happy? Or, is a lower level of happiness simply a matter of one not understanding and appreciating how lucky they are to live during a time when they can possess a really cool apple watch that King Louis XVI missed out on? Is it possible that happiness isn't determined by how good some people got it? Is it possible that it's more complicated and specific to individual perception and relative circumstances? If I'm starving under a bridge, does it matter to me that some people with the resources and time to blog and podcast from the comfort of their executive homes believe that my life is better than it would have been 100 years ago? Perhaps not.