hedonic and eudaimonic are two kinds of happiness. hedonic is the one that maximises pleasure and minimises pain. hedonic pleasures are what the modern society makes us go after. think of tasty food, travel, scrolling, drugs, etc.

eudaimonic on the other hand refers to a more long-term well being that focuses on purpose, internal values and self-actualisation. it requires working hard and facing challenges.

all of any one type is harmful. if all you do is pursue hedonic pleasure, which many people are now tricked into doing by the algorithms of modern society, then you develop tolerance. hedonic pleasures are intense but short-lived, drugs being the most extreme example. the human body wasn’t evolved for these kinds of intense hedonic activities. in order to maintain homeostasis, the human brain develops tolerance for these kind of substances or activities.

tolerance is developed by multiple ways but one way is by downregulation of receptors. take the famous/infamous dopamine. when you engage in high dopamine activites, the brain releases a lot of dopamine and in order to maintain homeostasis the brain decreases the amount of receptors. receptors are like locks and dopamine is they key. so afterwards when you do the same activity, you don’t feel the same happiness because there are less receptors available to activate.

on the other hand just doing eudaimonic isn’t good either. it leads to burnout and cortisol increase, etc.

the balance seems to lie somewhere around 70-30. 70% of eudaimonic happiness but also 30% hedonic happiness to prevent burnout and getting the motivation to push.

maybe the 5 day workweek isn’t such a bad idea then.