In the 20th century,Americans,Europens, and East Asians enjoyed material and technological andvances (take the U.S. for example)
improvement of living standards
the boom in productivity made goods better and cheaper
luxuries(jet travel,long-distance phone calls)became necessities
pursuit of entertainment turned media and leisure into multibillion-dollar industries
happiness and technologyare not closely correlated
universal phenomenon
money≠happpiness(at least not after a certain point)
lottery winners≠external sense of well-being
take technology for granted
negative impacts of technology on people's sense of well-being
daily stress
telemarketing,traffic jams,identity theft
relationships
privacy becomes fragile
keystroke monitoring,full recordings of phone calls
rapid technological change
buy sth. with disappointment
the most important impact of technologyon people's sense of well-being
in the field of health care
prolonging lifespan (at least for people in the rich world)
a paradox of any discussion of happiness on a national or a global level
people still as hungry as ever for more time
even though they may not be happier
even though they are wealthier and poccess more technology