It was March 6th of the year 1982, a long time ago but a date that’s engraved in my mind like a timeless inscription on the stone of history.  It’s rare that you can look at a date from that many years ago and decisively tell people exactly where you were and what you were doing.  Maybe for something like a marriage, that’s easy.  But for other events?  It’s hard.  But I can do it.  At least for March 6th of 1982.  I know exactly where I was, exactly what I was doing.  You see, March 6th of 1982 was a very important date for many young video-gamers of the era.  You see, it was on March 6th of 1982 that Atari was set to release a version of their arcade smash Pac-Man for the Atari 2600.  Now look with Xboxes and Playstations, it’s hard for many of us to remember a time when the Atari reigned supreme in American households.  But I was there and like everyone had an Atari back then.  And you’re talking about Pac-Man.  Few videogames have made the kind of splash that Pac-Man did when it hit arcades back in the summer of 1980.  Kids were lined up at local arcades to play the game.  The prospect of getting to play that awesome game at home was sure to be a ginormous draw.  And it was.  Somehow, I’d convinced my father to join me that day.  While I wanted to get to the store at 6am to ensure a copy, Dad declared we could head to the store no sooner than 9am as it opened at 10.  We got there and my heart shrunk.  There was already a score of people queued up in front of the Richway Department store on Tyvola Road in Charlotte.  Richway’s became Targets, in case you never heard of the store.  Well, I got in line, convinced we wouldn’t get a copy.  At about 9:45, a representative of the store came out with numbers and started handing them out.  They explained that if you got a numbered ticket, you’d get a game.  If you didn’t, you wouldn’t.  Those were some tense minutes of waiting while the man with the numbers started handing them out and heading down the line.  I had no idea how many he had so all I could do was wait and hope.  There he was, moving slowly down the line coming closer and closer to me.  I strayed to see just how many slips he held in his hand, but I could not.  When he got to a person about four ahead of me in line, he handed out his last slip.  Needless to say, I was heartbroken.  My dad and I returned home, empty handed with my harboring a major resentment towards him for not allowing us to go at 6am in the morning.  And, as it was the days before the internet, I had absolutely no idea for several days of something.  News didn’t travel quite as fast in the days before the internet.  What the news was that could’ve conceivably made me feel slightly better for having missed out?  The game was a complete and total dog.  When I finally did get my hands on a copy, weeks later, I only played it for a few minutes before quitting.  The game was a cash grab, largely unlike the actual videogame, it was glitchy and terrible graphics.  But you see, what I remember is wanting that game so badly.  Then, not getting it, I remember the misery of feeling like I was left out.

Material possessions often leave us feeling just like that.  Like we’ve labored so hard for something that simply does not meet the bill for providing us contentment.  And, as we talked about last week, the more we have, the more we tend to want.  Called the hedonic treadmill.  The concept of the hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is a metaphorical representation of the human tendency to return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.  According to this theory, as a person makes more money or experiences success, their expectations and desires rise in tandem, which results in no permanent gain in happiness.  This phenomenon is akin to a person walking on a treadmill, where they keep walking or even running but stay in the same place, suggesting that people consistently chase happiness but do not necessarily gain ground towards long-term satisfaction.

This concept is pivotal in understanding human behavior, particularly in the context of consumerism and personal ambition.  It implies that the pursuit of material gains or achievements, while potentially offering temporary spikes in happiness, does not lead to a lasting increase in overall happiness.  Over time, individuals become accustomed to their new situation, and the level of satisfaction derived from it diminishes, leading them to seek out the next thing they believe will make them happy.  The hedonic treadmill suggests a paradox of aspiration, where the pursuit of happiness may inadvertently lead to its elusiveness.  This insight is crucial in fields like psychology, economics, and philosophy, as it challenges the assumption that increases in wealth or status are directly proportional to increases in happiness.

But our present fixation on having stuff and gaining more directly contributes to our rising rates of fear and anxiety in this country.  In recent years, the United States has witnessed a disquieting rise in anxiety rates among its population.  More than a quarter (27.3%) of the adult population aged 18 and over exhibit symptoms of anxiety disorders, a sharp increase from the 8.1% reported in 2019​​.  This distressing trend is further emphasized by the fact that in 2023, 37% of U.S. respondents indicated heightened anxiety compared to the previous year​​.  The period between April 2020 and August 2021 saw rates of anxiety and depression about four times higher than in 2019, with significant increases among males, Asian Americans, young adults, and parents with children at home​​.