This channel is made possible by the support of our members.

Become an Academy of Ideas supporting member and access over 90 videos exclusive to members.

Sign up for $6 a month or $49 a year by visiting Academyof Ideas.com slash members.

In the first century AD, the Greek orator and philosopher Diocrosostum wrote,

Luxury makes pains seem even harder, and dulls and weakens one's pleasures.

For the person who is always luxuriating and never touches pain, will end up unable to endure any pain at all,

and also not able to feel any pleasure, not even the most intense.

In the modern West, we have access to pleasures, comforts, and entertainments which kings of

old could not have dreamed of, but with all this luxury, many people are chronically

stressed, anxious, depressed, or struggling with physical debilitations. In this video, we explore

the intimate connection between pleasure and pain, and examine why too many comforts and

pleasures are contributing to modern man's mental and physical malaise.

In his book The Comfort Crisis, Michael Easter writes,

We lack physical struggles. We have too many ways to numb out, like comfort food, cigarettes,

alcohol, pills, smartphones, and TV. We don't have to deal with discomforts like working for our food,

moving hard and heavy each day, feeling deep hunger, and being exposed to the elements,

but we do have to deal with the side effects of our comfort, long-term physical and mental health problems.

To understand just how comfortable and pleasurable our lives are,

we can contrast modern life to the realities our hunter-gatherer ancestors faced for much of human history.

On a near daily basis, our ancestors walked miles to find water and forage food. They expended enormous amounts of energy

bringing down large mammals, and regularly engaged in persistence hunting, which involved

tracking and chasing prey until the animal collapsed in exhaustion. Once they made a kill,

...