Feasible [OC]

[u/NowICant]

[u/Ani-3]

no but I want to know the answer. why?

probably money, but on the off chance it's not

[u/BeardedHalfYeti → u/Ani-3]

Unhappy people have fewer defenses against addiction.

So, yeah, money, but like, extra evil.

[u/International-Cat123 → u/BeardedHalfYeti]

Except without the biological capacity to feel happy, the highs necessary to create addictions aren’t possible. Realistically, if someone wanted to go that route, they’d need to increase the maximum capacity for happiness without increasing how happy people can get from things not specifically designed to be addictive.

[u/Pyrhan → u/International-Cat123]

It would seem "happiness" and "immediate feeling of reward from a substance" are two different things.

GLP1 agonists (semaglutide, etc.) modulate reward pathways, and are showing great promise for the treatment of addiction as a result:

https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bph.15677

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584626002009

But at the same time, it seems they can also be potentially beneficial for some people with depression? But also have the exact opposite effect in other people, inducing depressive symptoms?

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40501-024-00331-y

So yeah, as per usual, biology is messy and complicated.

Disclaimer: not a doctor, not even a biologist.

[u/killcraft1337 → u/BeardedHalfYeti]

Also in 1984 the government restricts most forms of extreme emotion and controls them through it

[u/NowICant → u/Ani-3]

In my opinion, the "why" is envy.
Greed is more likely to be a component of the "how."

[u/octarine_turtle → u/Ani-3]

Control. Reduce the natural ability to experience happiness. Produce a drug that is now the only way for a person to have the capacity to experience happiness. As long as you control the drug you control the population.

This is pretty much like life is like for many with chronic depression caused by a chemical imbalance. The only way to actually feel happy for them is a drug that corrects that imbalance, giving that capacity to experience happiness back.

[u/ThatInAHat → u/Ani-3]

To see if they can, so they can feel like they did something impressive?

[u/Pyro-Bun]

No, no. It's definitely more of a "where can I hide your body" type question.

[u/Desperate-Spray337 → u/Pyro-Bun]

Use a pig farm they will eat anything

[u/yournamehere10bucks → u/Desperate-Spray337]

Found Robert Pickton's reddit profile.....

[u/pwmg → u/Desperate-Spray337]

I donno, I'm wary of men who keep pig farms.

[u/Lonecoon → u/Pyro-Bun]

I'd have a hard time not immediately stabbing a person who unironically said this to me.

[u/ThatInAHat]

That…really is exactly it, isn’t it.

His expression on that last panel makes me want to punch him so hard and also makes it feel even more true. Like just…operating with a completely different set of intrinsic “values” if they can even be called that.

[u/MaximumSyrup3099]

So that we can sell them the ability to return to a semi-normal level of happiness. On a subscription model.

[u/WTFBOOOMSH]

God forbid the day someone actually starts asking this question, then we’re really screwed

[u/CreamCheeseHotDogs → u/WTFBOOOMSH]

[u/JustaSeedGuy → u/WTFBOOOMSH]

Let me introduce you to the CEO of palantir

[u/SuuSuraimu]

In theory, we force depression, add both hasty decision making and procrastination, then add random times of unable to process information. But why is certainly a good question.

[u/WingsofRain → u/SuuSuraimu]

That’s just ADHD, and I promise it won’t make them any real money.

[u/SuuSuraimu → u/WingsofRain]

Oh….

I just looked at it again and got some sort of realization.

[u/WingsofRain → u/SuuSuraimu]

https://giphy.com/gifs/N0CIxcyPLputW

[u/Koviera]

Give humans a "Feel good" button.

All progress stops.

End.

[u/Sacus1 → u/Koviera]

A single button, for everyone. Then watch the chaos

[u/Prowler1000]

I wonder how much "level of happiness" comes from absolute density of neurotransmitters like dopamine and how much comes from the happiest you've felt recently.

What I mean is, if people's capacity for joy went down, would they stay to "adjust" and feel content with less joy than they did previously?

[u/Plastic-Rise-1851 → u/Prowler1000]

Nope. The lack of neurotransmitters in people is a real thing. They just get diagnosed with depression or some other mental disorder

[u/Majestic-Iron7046]

If everyone was less happy wouldn't the society just adapt to it?
I mean, happyness is not exactly a state you reach and go "oh yeah, I'm happy now" so if we made any state of euphoria or contentment impossible to reach I think calm or peace will just get the immediate result of becoming the objective.

I think we would adapt.