Why Are Humans Never Satisfied?
You are currently in high school, thinking about the university you will go to after graduation. At this time, you are imagining that you will be the luckiest person if you can get into your dream college. You might be a fresh graduate and looking for a job, of course a multinational company with big salary is what you are most looking for right now. Having a crush for a man/woman you like, it must be happy if you date him/her.
Those are humans, they are imagining things that will make them happy if they have succeeded in getting what they want. But is it true that humans will be happy after all they have achieved? The answer is ‘NO’.
Like the wheel of life, even the greatest desires have ups and downs. Once you get into your dream college, of course you will be faced with many difficult tasks. Even when you have been accepted to work in one of the multinational companies with big salary, there are job pressures that make you stressed. And the man/woman you have a crush for a long time, they do not change, but you only know their true selves after you both are dating.
Another thing that makes humans unhappy even after they get what they want is that humans are indeed creatures who were never designed to be happy. They will be happy, of course, but it does not last long.
“The joys of loves and triumphs … fade with time.” — Sonja Lyubomirsky.
Then why do humans never feel satisfied and get a happy ending as many people have always dreamed of?
1. Hedonic Treadmill
The hedonic treadmill (also known as hedonic adaptation) is a theory positing that people repeatedly return to their baseline level of happiness. The theory of the hedonic treadmill states that each person has a happiness set point. Regardless of what happens to people, their levels of happiness will eventually return to their baselines as time goes by when one has really adapted to it. As Alex Lickerman, an author and chief medical officer, said that, “Our level of happiness may change transiently in response to life events, but then almost always returns to its baseline level as we habituate to those events and their consequences over time.”
2. Learning Desire
Arita Hideho, in his book entitled Teknik Menghilangkan Stres dari Otak, stated that the reason humans are never satisfied is because of the dopamine nerve in the brain that signals humans to keep learning as long as there is a reward, which is happiness. Humans will think if they can do something new, they will feel happy, after the feeling of happiness they get, they will move on to other desires to achieve. So the process will be like having a goal — achieved the goal — be happy — having a goal — achieved the goal — be happy — and more.
3. Self-Recognition
Humans will feel happy if their existence is recognised, even some people live to compete to get recognition from around. One that can be done is to be or get what other people want. A person who does not really want to be a doctor will try hard to become a doctor. Not to fulfil his/her wish, but because the people around yearn for the profession of a doctor, and he/she wants to be coveted by those people. So it can be said that the desire does not come from oneself but only to attract attention and get recognition from others. And you know, being what everyone else wants is an endless journey.
Human dissatisfaction has both positive and negative sides. If we look at it from the side of the desire to continue to learn and develop ourselves, of course it will be something positive in our lives. On the other hand, if we are never satisfied and continue to hope for something that has ‘bad purpose’, then all those achievements are in vain.
-Northern Ingo-
