Hedonic Adaptation, Bionic, None of This is True, and more...

I trawl through the highs and lows of culture and ideas, so you don't have to.

The Saturday Compendium is where I’ll round up a few of the things that have interested me in one way or another this week. Some cool, some not so cool, some that have made me think, some that have inspired me to action, some that have shaken me out of a rut. Some old, some new, all borrowed, some possibly blue. But whatever else, they’re all things I think you might find interesting too

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I took this photo 21 years ago, apparently…

1. What I’ve been watching: Orphan Black

I’m late to the party on this, but it was recommended by a friend so I took the plunge. I’m about half-way through the first season (of five) and so far I’m finding it interesting, and gripping. Sort of a mystery/thriller with a sci-fi twist. Hard to see how they get four more seasons out of it, but there are lots of ways it could go, and they clearly managed it, so I’m looking forward to finding out.

2. What I’ve been listening to: Placebo - Placebo

I’ve loved this record since it came out in (*checks notes*) 1996. It has a charm, a naivety, which is largely absent from their later recordings (and it doesn’t sound over-produced, in fact it almost sounds cheap, like a live band, which adds to its charm). I rediscovered it a couple of weeks ago, when I bought it on vinyl.

I also love the cover, though it was not without controversy:

“On 23 June 2012, it emerged that the boy photographed for the album cover, David Fox (shown wearing a red jumper and pulling his face downward), was threatening to sue the band for "ruining" his life. His cousin Saul Fletcher had taken the photo. Fox claims he was quite popular at the time and that when the album came out everyone bullied him”

Interesting that it took him sixteen years to realise his life had been ‘ruined’.

‘Bionic’ is one of my favourite songs of all time, if you’re interested.

3. Things I’ve been thinking about: Hedonic Adaptation

We all have a baseline of happiness, that we tend to return to. This means, even if something great happens (we fall in love, we win the lottery), over time we will return to the same level of happiness.

But the reverse is also true. A bad break-up, even the diagnosis of a life-changing condition? We still return to the same baseline.

Studies have proven this. One famous one compared people who had just won the lottery with people who had just lost the ability to walk. At the beginning there was (pretty obviously) a big gap between how happy those two groups of people felt, over time everyone returned to their baseline happiness, so there wasn’t that much difference.

So, rather than thinking endlessly about life’s ups and downs, maybe we’d be better off thinking about how to improve this baseline of happiness to which we return. Apparently it’s hard to do, but for my reader-supporters, I’ve put some ideas below the paywall.

4. An Instagram post that made me think:

AKA ‘fake it ‘til you make it’. I particularly like the ‘don’t think too hard’ part, though.

5. What I’m reading: Lisa Jewell’s ‘None of This Is True’

   

   So far, at least, it’s fantastic.

How about you? What are you enjoying at the moment?

Bonus! A little something extra for my reader-supporters.