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Mr August's avatar

It sounds like a set of values that optimize for short-term rewards. If the common expectation is that there are no long-term rewards to be had, then these values make sense. Those who attempt to play a long-term game within a culture that is short-term focused have to make extraordinary sacrifice. Any set-backs along the way will naturally present the specter of long-term failure and the temptation to mean-revert among peers.

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Peter David Jones's avatar

And which cause utility? My theory is that people lapse into forager values when circumstances allow because the forager lifestyle is enjoyable, because humans adapted to it over a long period.

Farmer values, by contrast have to be learnt by rigorous discipline, and the lifestyle does not feel like fun -- conservatives seem oddly miserable to liberals.

So happiness peaks where there is enough wealth to allow widespread foraging, not at maximum wealth.

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