[keiferski]

My go-to oversimplified answer to this is: people in the past had a poorer material life, but a richer spiritual/purpose-driven one.

I think it’s probably accurate to say that just because we have immense wealth, medicine, etc. that doesn’t necessarily imply we are psychologically healthier or happier. We live in an age of material abundance with a shortage of meaning.

[marcodiego]

> we have immense wealth, medicine, etc. that doesn’t necessarily imply we are psychologically healthier or happier.

That may make sense if you compare us to a few generations ago because maybe we're almost in a "diminishing returns" phase and our lives aren't significantly better than our closest ancestors. Nevertheless, I'm not sure if we were happier during periods of famine, plague and inquisition. It is still possible to have a "go-to oversimplified answer to this" even for this "go-to oversimplified answer to this".

[keiferski]

I’m sure you can pick any individual group of people today and compare them to an individual group from the past, and say that one was happier / less happier than the other.

I am speaking more in general terms, and to make the specific point that just because material conditions are better, that doesn’t imply that psychological / spiritual ones are too.