Citation needed. The idea that we'd be miserable without things invented incredibly recently on an evolutionary timescale is a pretty extraordinary claim and flies in the face of basic thought or world experience.
I think many of the points in the article directly make us happier, and others at least give us the opportunity to be happier:
- people are less sick
- infants do not die as easily
- people are less hungry
- people are cleaner
- people do less grueling manual labor
- people are more comfortable
- people have more free time
These aren’t happiness in and of themselves, but it’s obvious that if you take it all away, people are much more likely to be dead, or at least very uncomfortable and strained.
I think other modern amenities, like cars and computers have less of an affect on happiness. But certainly, being alive is a prerequisite to being happy!
Citation needed. The idea that we'd be miserable without things invented incredibly recently on an evolutionary timescale is a pretty extraordinary claim and flies in the face of basic thought or world experience.