[godisdad]

I think the material conditions of one’s existence are relevant to happiness. A lot of articles like this, minimalism, tiny houses and living with nothing strike me as boomer media controlled justifications for austerity. Gas lighting a whole generation of people to settle for less because “things” don’t matter, money doesn’t matter and what really matters is living in a tire shed telling yourself that everything is OK.

Also:

> Actually the regions have comparable life satisfaction, but people say California because they think of the weather and fail to take account of other things, such as the fact that California is full of tedious hippies.

I can’t eyeroll this enough

[perl4ever]

>Gas lighting a whole generation of people to settle for less because “things” don’t matter, money doesn’t matter and what really matters is living in a tire shed telling yourself that everything is OK.

Other people telling you what you should want is obnoxious. But I take it as axiomatic that whenever someone is doing that sort of thing, they're really debating themselves. Every debatable assertion is the outward expression of inward uncertainty. It's healthy to accept that.

If someone is telling you things don't matter, then they are trying to convince themselves. And if it makes you angry, then you are trying to convince yourself they do matter. You can just say "maybe, maybe not" and possibly consider experimenting to find out. Get things, give them up. It's inevitable that in life, first you get things and then you give them up, anyway.

[slothtrop]

You're projecting a lot. Nowhere does he advocate minimalism or living with nothing. The notion that a substantial increase in wealth won't lead to sustained increase in happiness is one that has been reflected in research, where survival isn't an issue (i.e. poverty). That's not tantamount to suggesting that this sort of success and others is pointless, it's that there are more effective ways to be happy.

I know that I tend to have an adverse reaction to the prescription of being "grateful", so I dispense with that. There are useful points otherwise.