In the past (let's just jump off the human timeline, at the hunter gatherer era), pleasure, as you pointed out, came from hard work and effort. The pleasure of eating and having water was labor based. If you didn't walk your primitive feet out into he fields and gather berries, grains, or chase that wicked fast gazelle down after you were able to spear it, then you weren't getting any pleasure.
Today, that is as opposite the case as you can get. No need to do anything resembling physical labor for the food based dopamine hit. Nope, you don't have to do the prep and planning for the coming effort to procure the items needed, no need to go procure them, no requirement to prepare them, however, you do have to eat them and digest them - so there is some labor.
All sarcasm aside, the majority of the western world doesn't have to move from the couch to have highly flavored, nutrient empty "food" and liquids", so long as they or a friend has a cell with a delivery app. And of course the underlying, ignored price is the crumbling of the organism and larger society on many levels.
As you rightly point out, the implications stretch across all sectors of societies and virtually all aspects for daily existence.
We're collectively like a dog, set loose in a storage room full of dog food, that eats itself to death - pleasure being the mouth watering mounds of kibble, we humans gorge on constantly.
Well stated.
Progress has not been our friend.
In the past (let's just jump off the human timeline, at the hunter gatherer era), pleasure, as you pointed out, came from hard work and effort. The pleasure of eating and having water was labor based. If you didn't walk your primitive feet out into he fields and gather berries, grains, or chase that wicked fast gazelle down after you were able to spear it, then you weren't getting any pleasure.
Today, that is as opposite the case as you can get. No need to do anything resembling physical labor for the food based dopamine hit. Nope, you don't have to do the prep and planning for the coming effort to procure the items needed, no need to go procure them, no requirement to prepare them, however, you do have to eat them and digest them - so there is some labor.
All sarcasm aside, the majority of the western world doesn't have to move from the couch to have highly flavored, nutrient empty "food" and liquids", so long as they or a friend has a cell with a delivery app. And of course the underlying, ignored price is the crumbling of the organism and larger society on many levels.
As you rightly point out, the implications stretch across all sectors of societies and virtually all aspects for daily existence.
We're collectively like a dog, set loose in a storage room full of dog food, that eats itself to death - pleasure being the mouth watering mounds of kibble, we humans gorge on constantly.