[nico]

The issue is that well-being is relative and subjective

You can’t “objectively” look back and say people “have it better” now

Sure, you can look at all sorts of data and metrics, but that doesn’t mean people feel like they are better off now, which is what matters in the end

So the real question we should be trying to answer is: are people feeling better now than how they felt 200 years ago?

We could talk about it forever, but ultimately, it’s impossible to know

[weaverheavy]

Medieval peasants worked about 1080 hours a year or an average of 20 hours a week. I wont speculate on how happy they were, but they were probably able to spend more time at home with their family/friends and local spiritual community and probably got more sleep than most people do today.

We may have better hygiene and live longer on average compared to then, but most of our lives are spent away from most of the people we care about/take care of.

[jwestbury]

I generally agree with this sentiment, but I think it's important to recognise that this ISN'T an accurate portrayal. Yes, they worked less in service to others... but then they also had to go work their own plot for their own food, etc. They likely laboured as much as we do, once you include the things you need to do to live and participate in society.

Now, how it affects your mental health to do work on behalf of yourself vs. on behalf of others is a different question.

[Frannyies]

I can make reasonable guesses.