Social Pressures for Technological Mood Management

Abstract: The prospect of neurotechnologies for mood manipulation alarms some people who worry about the pernicious effects they might have. In particular there is a concern that individuals will be pressured to make themselves inauthentically happy, and tolerant of things that should make them sad or angry. The most common result of social pressures to adjust mood will likely be far more beneficial both for the individual and society. This essay reviews research on the stresses of “emotion work” and the personality correlates of “subjective well-being” to argue that social pressures will generally encourage individuals to be happy by encouraging them to be more friendly, patient, and engaged. Several more pernicious kinds of social pressures for mood control are then reviewed to illustrate the need for democratic scrutiny of the use of neurotechnologies, guided by a goal of encouraging an engaged, dynamic, flourishing personality in each citizen.

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Complete entry

Posted by Mike  on  07/30  at  08:03 PM

The link to your earlier version paper isn't working.

Interesting paper (I found it by browsing your archive).

Check out my neurotechnology blog too. I discuss stuff like radical mood enhancement and improving cognition. It has a lot of transhumanist type themes.

Posted by Rosiecee  on  07/31  at  09:29 PM

Yes, we have to be careful of the chemicals we use to control peoples' moods.

The Physicians Desk Reference states that SSRI antidepressants and all antidepressants can cause mania, psychosis, abnormal thinking, paranoia, hostility, etc.

Go to www.SSRIstories.com where there are over 3,200 cases, with the full media article available, involving bizarre murders, suicides, school shootings [48 of these] and murder-suicides - all of which involve SSRI antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc, . The media article usually tells which SSRI antidepressant the perpetrator was taking or had been using.

Posted by Susan Kuchinskas  on  08/03  at  11:04 AM

Isn't the concept of "inauthentic happiness" obsolete? Marty Seligman's work showed that happiness wasn't related to external events -- and, in fact, happier people tended to have less realistic perceptions of events. But .. they're happy.

If it's okay to "control people's moods" when they're clinically depressed, why isn't it okay to let people choose how they feel?

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