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Evolutionary roots of envy


Spathi
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It seems that our level of happiness is determined not by absolute, but by relative level of comfort. This means, that a man feels good only when he lives better than others. It is good to be richer than average, but when everybody becomes richer – nothing changes. This effect can be explained as follows: without this mechanism, populations who live in bad conditions would have problems because they have too much sufferings (e.g. suicides), and the populations who live in good conditions have this problem too (big euphoria can harm the brain).

As a result, we have the feeling of envy. When we see that other people live better then we, the fact of their comfort makes us unhappy. Figuratively speaking, these people, by the fact of their comfort,  “hurt” us, and there appears a desire to hurt them in return. Similarly, when we see that many people are living poorly, we feel compassion and a desire to help.

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