I’m not sure if the idea in the post is a reformulation of hedonic treadmill. In a hedonic treadmill, your happiness level stays constant, but in a “futile dreams” situation you’re actually becoming less and less happy over time.
Maybe you can learn to appreciate an “ordinary” life. It’s just that I usually prefer solutions that involve physical actions and changes (however stupid) to solutions that involve introspection, because the gains of introspection often go away in the morning and you’re just as unhappy as you were. YMMV.
I’m not sure if the idea in the post is a reformulation of hedonic treadmill. In a hedonic treadmill, your happiness level stays constant, but in a “futile dreams” situation you’re actually becoming less and less happy over time.
Maybe you can learn to appreciate an “ordinary” life. It’s just that I usually prefer solutions that involve physical actions and changes (however stupid) to solutions that involve introspection, because the gains of introspection often go away in the morning and you’re just as unhappy as you were. YMMV.