Were people in hunter-gatherer societies generally happier than modern people?

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Of course, it is impossible to test this hypothesis. However, based on Shan Kothari's excellent answer to Which economic system did the hunter-gatherer societies use?, we can see that hunter-gatherer's had leisure time, a balanced diet, and an equal society in terms of specialization of labor by gender. Is it possible that all this "progress" is just an illusion, and that we would be just as happy in a nomadic tribe type society?

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tynamite

If you've spent all your life in a box, and you didn't know anything about what's outside the box, you are unaware that the box exists. The people living in tribes today in the 21st century, are living in a box. We're on the outside with our internet, looking on the inside. If you don't know anything different other than what you know, why would you be sad about what you haven't got?

The reason why people in tribes are happier than people in Western society, is because Western society brings us a lot of hardships that we have to deal with. Lots of things that matter in our society, such as unemployment, bullying at school, and exams, are nonexistent in the society that tribes live in. Our society is a gift and a curse, as we have many more things to deal with, than the examples I gave. Also our society gives us expectations and responsibilities, which aren't so reinforced in tribes. Although people in tribes have to work and look after people, they feel more like children, than we do being adults.

The fact is that when you have a simpler life, life is happier. Ignorance is bliss! Having said that, I wouldn't want to live like the Amish. I've already been westernised. I'll miss too many things.