I agree with many of the parts of this post. I think xkcd was largely right, our brains have one scale and resize our experiences to fit. I think for a lot of people the hardest step is to just notice what things they actually like, and how much, and in what quantities before they habituate.
However, the specific substitutions, ascetic choices, etc. are very much going to vary between people, because we have different preferences. You can often get a lot of economic-efficiency-of-pleasure benefit by embracing the places where you prefer things society doesn’t, and vice versa. When I look at the places where I have expended time/effort/money on things that provided me little happiness/pleasure/etc., it’s usually because they’re in some sense status goods, or because I didn’t realize I could treat them as optional, or I just hadn’t taken the time to actually ask myself what I want.
And I know this isn’t the main point, but I would say that while candies and unhealthy snacks are engineered to be as addictive as law and buyers will allow, they’re not actually engineered to be maximally tasty. They have intensity of flavor, but generally lack the depth of “real food.” It’s unfortunate that many of the “healthier” foods that are easily available are less good than this, because it’s very feasible to make that baked potato taste better than most store-bought snacks, while still being much healthier. I would estimate that for many of the people don’t believe this, it is due to a skill issue—cooking. Sure, sometimes I really want potato chips or french fries. But most of the time, I’d prefer a potato, microwaved, cut in half, and topped with some high-quality butter and a sprinkle of the same seasonings you’d use for the chips and fries.
I agree with many of the parts of this post. I think xkcd was largely right, our brains have one scale and resize our experiences to fit. I think for a lot of people the hardest step is to just notice what things they actually like, and how much, and in what quantities before they habituate.
However, the specific substitutions, ascetic choices, etc. are very much going to vary between people, because we have different preferences. You can often get a lot of economic-efficiency-of-pleasure benefit by embracing the places where you prefer things society doesn’t, and vice versa. When I look at the places where I have expended time/effort/money on things that provided me little happiness/pleasure/etc., it’s usually because they’re in some sense status goods, or because I didn’t realize I could treat them as optional, or I just hadn’t taken the time to actually ask myself what I want.
And I know this isn’t the main point, but I would say that while candies and unhealthy snacks are engineered to be as addictive as law and buyers will allow, they’re not actually engineered to be maximally tasty. They have intensity of flavor, but generally lack the depth of “real food.” It’s unfortunate that many of the “healthier” foods that are easily available are less good than this, because it’s very feasible to make that baked potato taste better than most store-bought snacks, while still being much healthier. I would estimate that for many of the people don’t believe this, it is due to a skill issue—cooking. Sure, sometimes I really want potato chips or french fries. But most of the time, I’d prefer a potato, microwaved, cut in half, and topped with some high-quality butter and a sprinkle of the same seasonings you’d use for the chips and fries.