"The debilitating power of want"

I was hanging out with some friends this weekend when one began telling an anecdote about his travels in Central/South America where he routinely met people who, without any thread of material wealth or possession, managed to be much happier than most (US) Americans he knows.

The other interjected the title quote with the suggestion that much of the chronic illness you find in the US (which he may or may not have been implying he hasn't seen in his travels through the developing world), is largely due to stress and continuous dissatisfaction. The first then elaborated with the (absolutely correct) observation that many Americans are hugely motivated by fear and are consequentially perpetually over-wound.

I think there may be something to this. I remember reading a study (I wish I could remember a citation!) where it was suggested that some measure of personal satisfaction correlated with wealth - but only within countries, not between them - i.e. people judge how well they are doing based on how well their neighbors are doing, not against some universal, objective standard.

I also once read an editorial that suggested that Americans were happier in the 1950s then they are now because basic consumer goods that we now consider necessities (e.g. refrigerators and cars) were new, exciting and increasingly becoming available - i.e. people didn't have much, but they were excited and happy as they saw themselves and their neighbors steadily accumulating more and more neat stuff and living better - as opposed to today, where we take all our mountains of stuff for granted and only chaff to see people with fancier, more expensive versions of our own refrigerators and cars.

It sounds kinda funny, but it also resonates with me. My daily 2+ mile bike commute through quiet, residential neighborhoods really isn't a big deal on all but the hottest and rainiest days, yet I constantly find myself resenting all those that pass me in motorized vehicles. If everyone else were on bikes, I'd still arrive at work wet on many days, but I don't think I'd arrive as irritated.

Maybe this is one of those ways in which physiology is really intertwined with culture...

[reference to upcoming article...]