Hedonism, Happiness & 'Perfect Days' Movie

Disclaimer: I have no formal education in philosophy or psychology. These are just my personal thoughts and reflections! Additionally, the views expressed here are entirely my own and do not represent the ideas or opinions of the company I work for.

Recently (on 2025 Christmas) I've watched the movie "Perfect Days" by Wim Wenders.

The film follows Hirayama, a man who works cleaning public toilets in Tokyo and finds joy in his daily routine. He wakes up at the same time every day, without an alarm, prompted by the sound of an older woman sweeping leaves outside. His morning ritual includes brushing his teeth, shaving, and tending to his plants before heading to work.

As he steps outside, the first thing he does is take a deep breath, look at the sky, and smile. He grabs a coffee from a vending machine, drives to the toilets he cleans, and listens to cassette tapes while driving. The the movie soundtrack that plays "The Animals - House Of The Rising Sun", "Nina Simone - Feeling Goo" and much more wonderfull musics is a hightlight.

During lunchtime, Hirayama gets his old camara film camera (not a digital device or smartphone) and takes photos of the same tree. Getting back on home after the work, Hira rides his bycicle to a public bathhouse for a shower, dines at the same restaurant, get back to home and reads a book and goes to bed. On the other day, he's doing the same, and also the same on the day after that, until the weekend, when Hirayama takes some time to clean his house, visit an antiquarian bookshop to buy a new book, and purchase film for his camera as well as to develop his photographs. These photos are carefully selected and archived in a box, which he places in the closet. Hirayama is unfamiliar with Instagram, Spotify, or any modern technology. His happiness comes from the small things he can control and possess. The character lives the present, we can see that when Hira is cycling with his niece Niko. As the two of them cycle back and forth, weaving across the bridge in the sunset they call out to each other, “Next time is next time, and now is now.”

The movie reminds me of the concept of Cynicism, founded by philosophers like Diogenes (also known as Diogenes the Cynic). I plan to explore this idea further in the future. However, another concept that seems to have influenced the director and the film as a whole is Hedonism.

Hedonism

Hedonism is a family of philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. However, it does not advocate being driven by excessive indulgence. The pleasure of today should not negatively impact the pleasure of tomorrow. Thus, Hedonism is not about excess, such as overindulging in food or drink. Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher, was a proponent of a refined form of Hedonism that prioritized mental and emotional pleasures. His philosophy emphasizes finding joy in the small things we already have, rather than constantly seeking happiness in what we do not yet possess. He argued that we should live a life that aligns with our current circumstances. Epicurus approach focused on the pursuit of simple pleasures and the minimization of pain. This perspective highlights a moderate and sustainable view of pleasure, distinguishing it from indulgent or reckless behavior. Classical Hedonism often distinguishes between immediate physical pleasures and long-term mental or emotional contentment. Epicurus’ philosophy focuses more on the latter. Epicurus emphasized ataraxia (tranquility or freedom from anxiety) and aponia (absence of physical pain) as the ultimate goals. These are achieved through simple living, intellectual pursuits, and cultivating friendships.

Thinking about our work as software developers, IT professionals, and so on, I believe we should strive to find pleasure and happiness in small, everyday tasks—whether it’s fixing a bug, mentoring a new hire, or helping someone in the community. I understand that our job can be incredibly challenging at times. We may not always work on what we enjoy, and issues like mental fatigue, impostor syndrome, or overwhelming workloads can consume us. I’ve faced all these challenges myself, and I know how difficult it can be to manage those feelings. That’s why I think it’s important to take a moment, like Hirayama (the character from Perfect Days), to breathe deeply and focus on doing our best. We don’t need a perfect setup—three monitors, the best keyboard. We can do our best even when we don’t have the perfect solution at hand. In the future, I’d like to write about coding and Occam's razor to expand on this idea. Simplicity and focus can be powerful tools for finding clarity and satisfaction in both our work and our lives.

The Hedonic Treadmill Theory

Empirical evidence suggests that we have a tendency to adapt to both positive and negative life events. Often, this results in a return to our preexisting level of happiness, known as our happiness setpoint.

Hedonic Treadmill

So, the pursuit of constant happiness is almost the same as running on a treadmill, without moving forward. We feel tired, running faster and faster to experience the sensation of pleasure. When we reach this sensation, we go back to the preexisting level of happiness. The same happens when we feel bad and again, we eventually return to the preexisting level of happiness.

I think this is also related to F.O.M.O (Fear of Missing Out), the scrolling addiction caused by social networks like Instagram, TikTok, etc., which triggers instant dopamine in our brain.

If we can feel pleasure in the small things, like Hira, in everything we already have at the moment, the sensation of running on a treadmill without moving forward could be avoided.

References

Banner image created using AI with the following prompt: "create a image banner about Hedonic Treadmil like Dali"