An economist on misery

George Loewenstein, co-founder of behavioral economics, has written a new book called The Opposite of Happiness: How Bad Feelings Make and Break Us. It emerged from his own period of profound suffering.

Not a self-help book

Loewenstein adamantly refuses to dispense life advice. He says understanding is its own reward. Writing the book was, he told an interviewer, kind of a silver lining for his own misery.

Misery is the system

Loewenstein argues that misery is not a malfunction but fundamental to human nature. Negative emotions are more powerful, persistent, and pervasive than positive ones because evolution used them to motivate survival.

“Misery is inescapable. It's not some malfunction or a bug in the system. It is the system.”

Adam Smith saw it too

The father of economics observed that people work hard to earn riches only to discover the result offers no lasting contentment. This dissatisfaction, he wrote, rouses and keeps in continual motion the industry of mankind.

“It is this deception which rouses and keeps in continual motion the industry of mankind.”

The roach effect

One negative emotion can wipe out positive ones. Paul Rozin at the University of Pennsylvania called this the roach effect: drop a roach into fine French wine and you will not drink it.

Relief is the strongest positive

One of the strongest positive emotions is relief, which is relief from negative emotions. This suggests the strongest positive emotion involves the elimination of negative emotions, not the creation of happiness.

Sticks beat carrots

Misery is a stick trying to get you to do things evolution thought were good for you. The stick is immediate and clear. Positive emotions require second-order thinking about future rewards, making them weaker motivators.

Emotions are nearly universal

Emotion researchers have found the same basic emotions across a very wide range of cultures. What varies is what induces them. Loewenstein believes all twelve negative emotions he writes about appear in most different cultures.

Meta-emotions compound misery

Meta-emotions are judgmental feelings about our negative feelings. At the heart of many miseries is not feeling bad but believing you should feel otherwise. Guilt about not grieving enough is a meta-emotion about lack of emotion.

“At the heart of so many of our miseries is not the fact that we feel bad, but the belief that we should feel otherwise.”

Societal focus on happiness backfires

The cultural emphasis on happiness creates meta-meta-emotions. People think they are supposed to be happy, then feel ashamed and guilty when they are not, adding another layer of misery on top of the original unhappiness.

Social media amplifies comparison

Loewenstein was an expert on the Meta case that recently settled, on the side against Meta. He believes social media exacerbates social comparisons that lead to envy and loss of self-esteem, contributing to declining mental health.

Evolution meets capitalism

There is a mismatch between the circumstances in which humans evolved and the modern environment. In the capitalist economy, especially the internet age, entities exploit our evolutionary programming for their own good, not ours.

Young people pathologize sadness

Young people talk about their therapist and the drugs they take. They discuss anxiety and depression almost as one word. While openness about mental health is good, Loewenstein worries it can pathologize normal feelings.

Meaning comes unexpectedly

Striving intentionally for happiness or meaning does not work. Meaning often comes in unforeseeable spontaneous moments. Sometimes you get dragged into things you do not want to do that end up being the most fulfilling in your life.

Civilization runs on delusion

Adam Smith believed people are driven by the illusion that the next raise or accomplishment will bring happiness, though it never does. This helpful delusion is what leads humans to build cities, cure diseases, and create civilization.

Policy should reduce misery

Loewenstein argues social progress does not make people happier but can make them less miserable. Societies with robust safety nets like Scandinavian countries have the highest measures of happiness, or lowest levels of misery.

Financial anxiety destroys lives

Many people in America deal with huge financial anxiety from credit card debt or student debt. This not only makes people miserable day to day but destroys relationships and makes parenting much more difficult.

Insight is the real reward

Loewenstein wants readers to gain insight into their own negative feelings and other people's misery. He compares the book to reading sad novels like Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which are meaningful not because they make you happy but because they offer insight.

“What I'd really like people to get out of the book is insight, into their own negative feelings, their own types of misery, and other people's negative feelings.”

Misery is meant to be acted on

Misery evolved for good reasons and the whole point of misery is that people are supposed to take actions to lessen their miseries. That is what people should be doing, because who wants to be miserable.