Hedonic Adaptation

From Wikipedia:

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 events or life changes. According to this theory, as a person makes more money, expectations and desires rise in tandem, which results in no permanent gain in happiness. Philip Brickman and Donald T. Campbell coined the term in their essay “Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society” (1971). The hedonic treadmill viewpoint suggests that wealth does not increase the level of happiness. Subjective well-being might be largely determined by genetics; that is, happiness may be a heritable trait.

Hedonic adaptation is a process or mechanism that reduces the affective impact of emotional events. Generally, hedonic adaptation involves a happiness “set point”, whereby humans generally maintain a constant level of happiness throughout their lives, despite events that occur in their environment. The process of hedonic adaptation is often conceptualized as a treadmill, since no matter how hard one tries to gain an increase in happiness, one will remain in the same place.

Hedonic adaptation can occur in a variety of ways. Generally, the process involves cognitive changes, such as shifting values, goals, attention and interpretation of a situation. Further, neurochemical processes desensitize overstimulated hedonic pathways in the brain, which possibly prevents persistently high levels of intense positive or negative feelings. The process of adaptation can also occur through the tendency of humans to construct elaborate rationales for considering themselves deprived through a process social theorist Gregg Easterbrook calls “abundance denial”.

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 Likutei Etzot “Money and Livelihood” siman 27:

צריך שיהיה להאדם הסתפקות להסתפק רק במה שצריך לו בהכרח מזה העולם, ולא לנהג את ביתו כגדולים דוקא, כנהוג עכשו בעוונותינו הרבים בהרבה אנשים. כי אלו שאין להם מדת הסתפקות, עליהם נאמר ובטן רשעים תחסר, כי לעולם חסר להם הרבה….

אם ת”ח אומר היפך הנראה בחז”ל אין להאמין לו

המהר”ם שיק פירש הפסוק “וארשתיך לי באמונה וידעת את ה'” שכל קשרותינו עם ה’ הוא באמונה בלי טעם ודעת, אבל ‘וידעת את ה”, היינו הת”ח שנתרבה מ’את ה”, אם אומר דבר מה היפך מה שנראה בדברי חז”ל אין להאמין לו עד שנדע טעמו ונימוקו שעמו.

(כך שמעתי מובא בספר אם הבנים שמחה סוף הקדמה שניה, בשם חמיו ששמע מפה קדשו של מהר”ם שיק עצמו.)

Are Your Boys Drinking Alcohol in Summer Camp?

MAILBAG: The Alcohol-Drinking At Yeshiva Camps Is Out of Control And Being Ignored

Dear YWN readership.

I regret saying this, but my letter was sent to 4 Jewish publications before the summer, and unfortunately, it was ignored. I have since updated it to reflect new information (from as recent as last night), and humbly request it be published for the sake of saving lives.

Parents sending their boys to summer camps in the Catskills may think their boys are safe, but they aren’t.

No, I am not referring to pedophilia. That problem has Boruch Hashem been dealt with by organizations such as Amudim and the Gedolim behind them who devote their lives to helping the victims.

The topic I want to address is alcohol-drinking in camps. But not just any camps. I am referring to the elite “yeshiva / learning” camps. I have decided to leave the names of these camps out and hope that this letter alone will hopefully awaken the masses.

Please don’t start telling me that this is a minor percentage, because it’s not. This is a roaring problem that is largely being ignored and not being taken seriously by the people running these camps. I humbly question why the Roshei Yeshiva of these boys allow them to go to any of these camps as it’s no secret regarding the alcohol consumption at these camps. In fact, I have had many conversations with leading Roshei Yeshiva about this, and they just shrug their shoulders.

Just last night a bunch of these camps joined together to go to a well known amusement park. The day was capped off with a concert and a band with singing and dancing. I don’t think your readership needs to see the footage of the drunk boys staggering all over the place, so I’ll hold that for round two – If immediate action isn’t taken.

What are these camp owners waiting for? Do we need a few boys to die of alcohol poisoning before people boycott these camps? Why is the “zero tolerance for a smartphone” enforced but the drinking epidemic being ignored?

I should add (not that it makes any difference) that I am not referring to drinking beer. I am talking about bottles of hard liquor that the boys have stashed away.

I am demanding that the camps take action before I and others like myself take appropriate action to ensure the problem is dealt with another way. We will make sure your camps are (legally) exposed and blacklisted by every single family in America.

Thank you for publishing my letter, and I am sorry for being so harsh, but the reality demands this.

Have a wonderful and safe summer.

Yeshaya Dovid Braunstein – Lakewood

NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.

From YWN, here.

Chochma Bagoyim: Even ASSUMING Children Should Be Allowed a Smartphone, Let’s Delay at Least…

What’s the Right Age to Get a Kid Their First Smartphone? 3 Tech Thinkers Weigh In

Brett & Kate McKay • July 8, 2021

Parents have long had to figure out when to let their kids pass through certain “firsts” and milestones as they grow up. First time walking to the bus stop by themselves. First time riding their bike to a convenience store on their own. Getting a job. Getting a driver’s license.

In each case, the parent must decide whether in granting a new privilege, the child is ready to take on the responsibility that goes with it. They must weigh whether the risks that are attendant to the new freedom are worth the benefits the child will gain. With the exception of getting a driver’s license, no external entities set a definitive age for when an appropriate balance of these factors is typically reached. Parents just have to use their practical wisdom, and wing it.

The improvised nature of these kinds of decisions is particularly acute when it comes to dealing with an issue that didn’t even exist when many of today’s parents were growing up: when a kid should get their first smartphone.

What’s the Right Age to Get a Kid Their First Smartphone?

When to allow a young adult to get their first smartphone is a fraught question. On the one hand, there is research that links the amount of time a person spends online with higher rates of depression and anxiety, and every adult knows how much distraction their own phones create — and they’re not even as socially attuned and connected as their kids!

On the other hand, having a smartphone can be crucial for allowing young adults to socialize with their friends these days (and for facilitating schoolwork and extracurriculars as well). Cutting them off from those opportunities to integrate with their peers may cause the very depression a smartphone-withholding parent is trying to prevent.

The average age at which a child gets their own smartphone these days is ten. But is that actually a good age for parents to introduce this kind of powerful technology into their children’s lives? Is there a best age to introduce a smartphone that allows kids to take advantage of its connection-building benefits, while mitigating its potentially negative effects?

While answering this question isn’t a science, we wondered how folks who have spent a ton of time thinking about the impact that digital technology has had on human minds and culture would weigh in on it. (Bill Gates, for one, didn’t allow his three children to have smartphones until each was 14 years old). We thus reached out to three tech thinkers to see what they had to say:

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From The Art of Manliness, here.