Why are painful experiences more intense and common than pleasurable experiences? Plausibly, because there are many more obvious, permanent ways for organisms to lose the ability to propagate their genes than to improve their chances at success. Finding and eating a sweet berry is good, but not as strongly as eating a poisonous plant is bad.

I’m hopeful that with future technology and a robust ethics system, we can engineer far more useful pleasurable experiences, as a means to signal progress towards “ultimate good” on a societal level, in the same way poisoned berries are a significant step towards “ultimate bad” on an individual level. Imagine reliably feeling ecstatic joy every time you saved someone’s life or otherwise contributed to the common good!