[rellui]

This is something brought up in Buddhism as change of state. Basically happiness spawns from the change state: going from normal to better state brings happiness. Same applies for going from a down state back to normal. In this case from doing something miserable back to normal. This is important because suffering follows the same logic and Buddhism emphasizes on recognizing these change of states. This helped explain the emptiness or sadness I often feel after a big reunion with family members, a big party, doing something exciting, etc. I think it also helps explain why people chasing after the constant highs will never attain the happiness they're looking for since after staying high for a period of time, it'll become the new norm.

[kian]

The dopamine system is a harsh mistress - she doles out based on measured differences in states, and not based on any intrinsic absolute value of the state itself - although evolution sets her priors.