we're all pretty privileged here with long lives and lots of good stuff...nice houses, nice clothes, nice stuff, we're generally healthy and most people are at least fairly good looking.
do you think this leads us to take life/ourselves too seriously?
for overall happiness levels, i'd say life would be better if it lasted maybe 5-6 years and then you died, but you started in your prime by just appearing on the ground, fully clothed, and knowing how to do basic stuff, with somewhere to live. obviously from a self-centred point of view, this would mean less life for you, but those 5-6 years would, i reckon, be happier than any average 5-6 years of your life.
So if you had the same number living on the planet at any time, i reckon happiness levels would be higher.
what would you say?