I wonder what would be the optimal balance of material comfort vs self fulfillment. I picture a typical Pareto frontier. Did we push too far to one end? Did we actually pass optimality a few decades ago? Is there a bulge in the middle of the curve where we can still regain some additional self fulfillment while maintaining our standard of living? If we just regulate away all social media for example, do we still get the benefits of technology without the burden of perfect knowledge of our own extrinsic worth? Or is the desire for perfect knowledge simply too fundamental to human nature, even if it causes us self-destructive mental anguish?
People due by the thousands every year to try and reach a Western country they can resettle in mainly because of the wealth of material comforts available.
People want to first get fat and happy and for many that’s good enough. All the self actualization stuff comes far later.
