> The Blackpill: Time and Place Won’t Save You
Unless you alter your internal framework (via cognitive restructuring, pharmacological intervention, or radical acceptance), no external change (time travel, wealth, or societal collapse) will grant lasting relief. Happiness is not a a place, an era, or a condition; it is a biological, genetical and cognitive constant.
> The Hedonic Treadmill
Decades of psychological research (Brickman & Campbell, 1971; Kahneman et al., 1999) confirm that humans adapt to both fortune and misfortune, returning to a baseline level of happiness. A phenomenon known as hedonic adaptation. Winning the lottery or becoming paralyzed shifts happiness temporarily, but within years (sometimes months), people regress to their genetic set point of happiness.
> Genetics Over Circumstance
Twin studies (Lykken & Tellegen, 1996) suggest that 50-80% of subjective well-being is heritable. External conditions ( wealth, status, even historical era) account for a shockingly small portion of long-term happiness. A miserable person in 2024 would likely be miserable in 1824 or 3024, because their disposition shapes perception more than their environment.
> The Cope of Temporal Escape
Many fantasize that living in a different time (muh 'I belong in the Renaissance') would resolve their dissatisfaction. Romanticizing the past ignores suffering universals (disease, violence, boredom, etc). If your brain filters reality through negativity now, it will do so in any era.
