"I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts."
Hello Fellow Hedonists,
Children who watch alot of television are unhappy. It has been hypothesized that television makes people who have better things to do (such as graduate students) unhappy because it is percieved as an opportunity cost. Busy people feel guilty for watching T.V. Television also seems to provoke materialistic anxiety (men's magazines have a similar effect).
Now, Daniel Kahneman, Alan Krueger, David Schkade, Norbert Schwarz and Arthur Stone have shown that we spend too much time engaged in 'neutral downtime' when we could be engaged in more gratifying activites. Interestingly, it has also been shown that people who have televisions in their homes report greater well-being than do those who do not have televisions in their homes. I wonder why...
Excelsior!
C.L.Sosis
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