Hedonic treadmill is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.

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Hedonic treadmill is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes. Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell coined the term in 1971, publishing research showing that lottery winners and accident victims both returned to their baseline happiness levels within a few short months. Evolution wired us to adapt rapidly so we would not get too complacent, but this also means you will never actually achieve permanent bliss. That fancy new car, the massive job promotion, or the perfect romantic partner will inevitably become just another boring part of your mundane background reality. You are neurologically doomed to run forever on an emotional hamster wheel, constantly chasing the next hit of dopamine only to realize you are stuck in the exact same spot!