The Invisible Chain of Hedonism

“Right here, boys! Right here! Get your cake, pie, dill pickles, and ice cream! Eat all you can! Be a glutton! Stuff yourselves! It's all free, boys! It's all free! Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!”―Food Barker, Pinocchio

When Pinocchio arrived the pleasure island along with the other children, they were immediately drawn by the freedom they've never had before: unlimited supply of meat, ice cream, tobacco, and beer; they were also encouraged to participate in several "amusement park" facilities such as model homes opened for vandalizing and arenas for them to pick fights with other kids. We all know what happened next. Pleasure island was actually a cursed place ruled by the Coachman, who lured children with all those hedonic incentives; as children spent enough time on the island, one by one, they turned into donkeys and became enslaved by the Coachman. Pinocchio, luckily, was able to escape before completely transforming into a donkey.

This part of the 1940 Disney film has always given me shivers since I was a child. Reflecting on Pinocchio's encounter now, I realize how much symbolism is embedded within this part of the story with regards to the pursuit of well-being: it sufficiently communicates how the over-pursuing of pleasure can enslave and dehumanize us. How, though, can we explain this phenomenon with a Psychological perspective?

Hedonia: The Self-trapping Short Cut

Positive Psychologists often examine the idea of well-being in two categories: hedonic and eudaemonic. The APA dictionary of Psychology defines hedonic well-being as "The type of happiness/contentment achieved when pleasure is obtained and pain is avoided". This is familiar to all of us: the rush of dopamine overtaking our brain when butter dissolves on our tongue, when alcohol alleviates our anxiety, when orgasm dominates our body, when the newest version of iPhone has finally been delivered to us, and when recreational drugs hit our system. Our heart might race; our body might feel warm and relaxed; our mouth might start to salivate; our breath might becomes rapid. This form of pleasure is rather salient and efficient: it takes little time for the magic to work, and it produces noticeable changes in our physical and mental state.

However, there are two underlying mechanisms that explain how hedonism can backfire. First, our mental and physiological state would always eventually return to its baseline after experiencing a positive (or negative) event. This is called hedonic adaptation or the hedonic treadmill. Imagine yourself running on a treadmill; the faster you turn up the speed, the harder it is for you to be NOT send back to the starting position. This goes the same for acquiring the feeling of pleasure: the higher the euphoria take us, the larger the "cliff", and the more downfall we feel afterwards. Second, in the long run, the repetitive pursuing of stimulations can alter the biological make-up of our brain as well. For instance, the number of neurotransmitter receptors (which are important neurological structures responsible for the feeling of pleasure) might decrease in respond to the highly-concentrated presence of dopamine triggered by drugs such as cocaine, leading to the development of tolerance. Consequently, as we revisit our sources of pleasure again and again, we would feel compelled to increase the frequency or the amount of the stimulations in order to reach the same kind of hype; we might feel the urge to seek out novel sexual partners, shop for new shoes every season, take higher dosage of recreational drugs, or engage in more rounds of games. Just as the 1954 study by James Olds and Peter Milner demonstrated, a mice who can exert control over it's own brain stimulation to experience pleasure (through pressing a lever) would disregard even the most fundamental biological needs such as eating and mating, and would keep self-stimulating until it dies. While this might be an extreme example, we should see how this resemble various types of addictive habits that can often override our rationality and trap us in a vicious cycle of self-destruction.

Eudaimonia: A Sustainable Formula of Happiness

How do we cut ourselves free from the invisible chain of hedonism? I propose the pursuing of eudaemonia as a solution. The APA dictionary of Psychology defines eudaemonic well-being as "the type of happiness or contentment that is achieved through self-actualization and having meaningful purpose in one’s life". While this may sound abstract and philosophical, I can actually point out a few experiences that you might resonate with. It is the positive feeling produced from having a meaningful conversation with your friends or partner, mastering a new skill, or reaching an epiphany while watching a movie/reading a book. Given those examples, you might notice that, in contrast to hedonia, eudaemonia is a more stable and sustainable sense of well-being. In other words, while you might not feel that "rush" that suddenly moves you from one state to another, the effects of eudaemonia project further into the future and deeper into the growth/functioning of an individual. Why is that? To answer this, it's useful to compare the idea of hedonia and eudaemonia to food or drink-tasting. Think of the taste of your favorite snack/soda, then compare it with the taste of an exquisite dish/cocktail that has left an imprint in your memory. Focusing on the taste, ponder the question, why might one be considered a much more"high-quality" experience than another? While the snack can be indulging, it is likely to hit your tongue with condensed, artificial flavorings; as the pool of salty, fatty, and surgery flavors aggressively invade your mouth, it immediately trigger your brain's reward system, making you want to stuff more into our stomach. However, that spike of our blood sugar would soon be countered by a sudden drop, making you crave for it again; furthermore, such overwhelming experience of intense flavoring can sometimes quickly make us feel satiated or even uncomfortable. Now, consider the delicately-made dish/cocktail; it probably wouldn't rely heavily on pleasing your taste buds in the most efficient manner. Instead, it might integrate other contra-hedonic flavors such as bitterness, sourness, and even spiciness, creating a more balanced, moderate, and multi-layered journey in your mouth. Amazingly, with the right formula, such sophisticated combination creates a less intense yet more in-depth pleasantness that we can savor again and again in our memory.

This is a fundamental difference between hedonic and eudaemonic well-being. Similar to the snack, hedonic pursuits generates a direct, simple, and efficient sense of pleasure. However, it is due to the exact properties that they are more addictive and unstable (recall the "cliff" created by the hedonic treadmill). On the other hand, the pursuing of eudaemonia are structurally more complex. For instance, to be a competent mentor (a eudaemonic goal), you might need to cultivate your listening, communication, and leadership skills, empathy, and knowledge and practical experiences in a certain field (similar to composing a high-quality dish/cocktail with abundant element of ingredients); thus, your journey of pursuing this goal might take weeks, months, or even years; despite that, due to its long-term, multi-facet nature, this form of "investment"would likely to progressively promote the functioning and well-being in a diverse range of settings in your life. Going back to the example of becoming a mentor, the listening/communication aspect might improve your interpersonal relationship; the leadership aspect might open new doors for you at your workplace; the empathy aspect might helps you to be more accepting and forgiving when facing adversity in life; the knowledge and practical experiences might help you discover your strength and weaknesses that can be generalized to other situations. In short, there is an interesting trade-off between how salient/efficient we acquire the rewarding stimulation and how stable/sustainable that feeling is maintained in a broader context.

In today's world, more and more are dwelling on the pursuits of hedonism. We spend hours of our days scrolling through social media, shopping for luxury goods, and indulging in the euphoria of psychoactive drugs. We might feel that hedonia provides an escape for the stressful experiences in life; little do we know, we are slowly becoming chained up by the loops of chasing short-lived euphoria, which little of us have the resources or physical/mental strength to maintain over a long course of our lifespan. Over-pursuing hedonia while ignoring the importance of eudaemonia is like hooking yourself to a diet made up by empty calories; while it does satisfy your basic needs to get you through the days, it slowly poisons your health and dehumanizes your mindset, transforming you into a donkey driven by animalistic instincts.

Does that mean we should stop seeking hedonic pursuits? Probably not. After all, hedonic pursuits speak to our fundamental make-up as biological entities; their role of serving as effective instruments of incentives is irreplaceable; furthermore, there are many interesting connections between hedonic well-being and eudaemonic well-being yet to be explored by scientists and researchers. Sonya Lyubomirsky's study, Toward a New Science of Psychedelic Social Psychology/ The Effects of MDMA (Ecstasy) on Social Connection, for instance, underscores how certain recreational drugs changes our thought and behavior patterns, and thus can potentially translate to long-term benefits such as cultivating interpersonal intimacy and openness. While whether recreational drugs should be promoted remains debatable, this demonstrates the intertwining relationship between hedonia and eudaemonia. Thus, instead of deeming hedonism as something to be eradicated, it would be wiser for us to enact the following:

• Balance our lifestyle with a healthy formula of both hedonic and eudaemonic goals.

• Stay conscious of the potential danger of indulging in pleasurable activities and the "trade off" embedded within; keep track of the frequency and intensity we apply to our lifestyle.

• Accept the fact that we all eventually return to a baseline of well-being state. Thus, we shouldn't feel compelled to constantly maintain a positive state. The feeling of backsliding after a positive event is a normal part of the experience.