Friday 5 August 2022 05:37 PM Our brains are programmed to keep wanting more - even if it leads to ... trends now
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From shoes to clothes, vinyl records and the latest smartphone, humans have a seemingly insatiable desire for the latest products.
Now, researchers have used computer models to try and explain why we constantly crave more and more material things – even when they make us feel miserable.
According to the findings, the brain pursues more rewards when humans become 'habituated' to a higher standard of living,
Do you crave more and more stuff even though it's making you miserable? Well, we can probably blame our brains for our relentless pursuit of material goods, according to a computer simulation study
The new study was led by researchers at Princeton University's Department of Psychology in New Jersey.
'From ancient religious texts to modern literature, human history abounds with tales describing the struggle to achieve ever-lasting happiness,' they say in their paper.
'Paradoxically, happiness is one of the most sought-after human emotions, yet achieving it over the long-term remains an elusive goal for many people.
'Our results help explain why we are prone to becoming trapped in a cycle of never-ending wants and desires, and may shed light on psychopathologies such as depression, materialism and overconsumption.'
According to the experts, it's primarily two psychological phenomena that mean our brains relentlessly pursuit material goods.
Firstly, human happiness is influenced by a phenomenon called 'relative comparisons'.
This means that we're often concerned with the difference between what we have and a desired level that we wish to achieve.
