Re: assumption 1, “The underlying effect of life events is exactly the same”, what if that’s actually not the case? A couple brainstorming ideas on ways it’s not
maybe some new environmental factor, like microplastics or hormone disruptors or something is changing the way we experience good and bad events, making them less salient?
maybe more hyper salient stuff like junk food, or emotional experiences from media like movies, is affecting how we experience those things?
(Idk how to indent on mobile) for example with movies, maybe vicariously experiencing an intense event, accompanied with a music score and everything else, leaves the real life event feeling dull in comparison? I’ve heard Sam harris touch on a similar point, where it used to be you only really got an up close, face-to-face experience with someone by actually being close to them, and you’re “implicated” in it, your actions affect them and how they see you, whereas a movie you get part of the feeling of intimacy without being implicated, you can be slobbing it up on the couch and the result is the same
(Another indent) perhaps other forms of ragebait in the news and social media are more salient than life events, leaving actually frustrating things to have less of an impact?
afaik depression rates are increasing, maybe depressed people experience things less saliently? And we see effects of that across the spectrum even for “subclinical” depression?
Maybe if you know you’ll be mostly ok even if a bad thing happens, whether from social safety nets or good planning or whatever, then it happening is less salient? Or for a good thing, being ok before it happens makes it less exciting, you’re going from not-ok to ok, rather than ok to better
I’m sure there are others, but those are the main things I could think of. Not sure if they’re true or not though
There’s lots of points here. While they are possible, I would suggest they are not particularly common/well-suported in the psychological literature as it is today.
In addition, I don’t know why these explanations would lead to desensitisation towards positive and negative events.
Re: assumption 1, “The underlying effect of life events is exactly the same”, what if that’s actually not the case? A couple brainstorming ideas on ways it’s not
maybe some new environmental factor, like microplastics or hormone disruptors or something is changing the way we experience good and bad events, making them less salient?
maybe more hyper salient stuff like junk food, or emotional experiences from media like movies, is affecting how we experience those things?
(Idk how to indent on mobile) for example with movies, maybe vicariously experiencing an intense event, accompanied with a music score and everything else, leaves the real life event feeling dull in comparison? I’ve heard Sam harris touch on a similar point, where it used to be you only really got an up close, face-to-face experience with someone by actually being close to them, and you’re “implicated” in it, your actions affect them and how they see you, whereas a movie you get part of the feeling of intimacy without being implicated, you can be slobbing it up on the couch and the result is the same
(Another indent) perhaps other forms of ragebait in the news and social media are more salient than life events, leaving actually frustrating things to have less of an impact?
afaik depression rates are increasing, maybe depressed people experience things less saliently? And we see effects of that across the spectrum even for “subclinical” depression?
Maybe if you know you’ll be mostly ok even if a bad thing happens, whether from social safety nets or good planning or whatever, then it happening is less salient? Or for a good thing, being ok before it happens makes it less exciting, you’re going from not-ok to ok, rather than ok to better
I’m sure there are others, but those are the main things I could think of. Not sure if they’re true or not though
Hello there,
There’s lots of points here. While they are possible, I would suggest they are not particularly common/well-suported in the psychological literature as it is today.
In addition, I don’t know why these explanations would lead to desensitisation towards positive and negative events.