If MMO gaming and the rich and famous are any indication, a good majority of people would still be unhappy. Happiness of course comes from internal factors and is influenced by the external- but feeling like things are pointless, like you aren’t doing enough, like you are missing out, like you have no purpose, like you don’t understand things or that others don’t understand you, or that things are “could be better...” are all very common causes of unhappiness. Often it is people who view life as a comparison or contest who are most unhappy.
A neighbor has something new so you have to have a better one. Someone else does something so you have to do better. Someone else seems happier in their relationship so we feel something must be wrong with ours. No matter how good you look or how close to your ideal you look- that doesn’t mean people will like you as much as someone else or treat you the way you want treated. What’s more- if EVERYONE could do so- those who draw self esteem of worth from their feelings of superiority would have less avenues to do so. Much like inflation, things become devalued when there is enough supply to meet demands amply.
Think of it like this- what is considered attractive is often uncommon. In a room full of people who look identical of one has some slight variation they will tend to be the most visually interesting. They’ll get attention. As far as “bragging rights” go- as we see with everything from gemstones to cars to toys and trading cards- even a card or toy made with an error they technically “ruins” it is usually MORE valuable because it is simply different by nature.
That means that we’d probably see huge shifts in what is the standard of beauty since people could look however they wanted, so the more “traditional” standards of beauty would very likely fall quickly out of favor for more extreme and previously impractical manners of appearance- or perhaps even after a time a more “modest/conservative” look would be in vogue due to the rarity of a person choosing to look “normal.”
What likely wouldn’t change however is that some people have more social currency- more “charisma” or connections and skill at playing social “games,” and these people- whoever is aspirational to us from movie stars to musicians and models etc- would still likely be the templates by which others based their sense of aesthetic. What a “man’s man” is “supposed to look like” might not be a gruff Bruce Willis or a buff Arnie/Stallone- but would still be based on what those types were choosing.
Prominent high cheekbones and slightly alien elegance may no longer be the uncommon look of the high fashion model- perhaps feathers, elongated heads or faces- some other increasingly extreme and previously not feasible exaggeration of features would evolve and change with the years or seasons to differentiate those on the cutting edge of high art from those not.
So the looks would still change, there’d still likely be generational counter cultural rejections of established normalcy- just instead of long haired men, short haired women, rainbow hair or tattoos and piercings or gauges- we might see exaggerated features or people without noses or whatever.
Perhaps instead of wearing another persons jersey the sports fan might wear their favorite players face. Halloween might get more fun- or it might loose most of its appeal- when you can just transform into a mirror image of Han Solo it does take some of the fun out of it.
And things would likely get weird. Visual identification would basically be useless. You couldn’t tell if the president was in the room or not if someone else wanted to look like the president. Dating and long term monogamy would be interesting to say the least. But it might make personality and personal achievement much larger factors.
A BIG question though is wether this is a one time occurrence or not. Does it happen to each person once when they reach a certain age? Does it happen over time or instantly? Can you change the way you look later? Because what we want and what we think is ideal also changes. For many of us the person we wanted to be at 5,10,18,25, so on- is different. It can even change daily- one day wishing you looked like Chris Evans Captain America, the next wishing to look like Brad Pitt from Fury, Then Denzel from training day, then Idris with a touch of salt and pepper distinction, and so on. So if you decided in your teens you wanted to look like a porn star and then later said “what was I thinking?”
Or a True Fursona, a Centaur, The coolest guy in your day (MC hammer was cool for example. Cool on a fine period isn’t timeless and being stuck looking like Ron Burgandy either because it was cool in 1970 or because it was ironically cool for one summer in your 20’s is likely to lead to unhappiness about your looks later...)
We hear all the time from people who get plastic surgery- are happy- then later regret it, even reverse it if they are able. When young and insecure and wanting to have that “look,” those DD or H or even C implants might be exactly what someone wants. They might love them their whole life or even go bigger- but they also might someday say they don’t like the way people react to them, or the issues they cause, or they just don’t like the way they look anymore. So what happens if you decide you want to look a certain way and change your mind? That wouldn’t be much different than today. So wether you can change your look later or not would also have some impact- but ultimately I don’t think most people would be much happier.
Well- that isn’t true. They may be happier but they would still have things to be unhappy about and be able to find things about their look they aren’t happy about. They’d still compare themselves to others and still have a sense of futility or powerlessness or lack of purpose for the most part. If your money troubles are gone and you look the way you want- what do you do with your life? For most people, what is their reason to go to work if they didn’t need the pay check? If you aren’t working what do you do? How long can you lounge at the beach or ski or hike or play games until you get tired of it or start wondering what else you are missing?
Where are you getting your social contact from and meeting people and being pushed to new experiences and trials? What is your purpose in life? Your place? And if you think the answers to all that are easy- well then you’re already happy and don’t need all that stuff to be happy. If you already are able to do the things you like and make friends and have purpose and your job isn’t just a job but it has meaning beyond a check and so on... are you happy? If you aren’t... why aren’t you?
If the teacher goes to work with a joy of teaching and a mission to shape the future... why do they care they don’t get paid enough? They are alive. They are making a difference and getting by. But... they aren’t comfortable in life are they..? Well... likely they are more comfortable than the majority of the population on earth. They aren’t likely starving and homeless. So the core issue there is that other people have more- or they want more than they have. Having more doesn’t solve wanting more than you have- it just means more than what you have is bigger when you already have more and want more no?
So how does that work? You’re a teacher. You live to teach but you don’t get paid well and you have trouble paying your bills. This happens and now you can afford your rent and your car and keep teaching right? But where is your home? You can have any home- are you keeping the one you have now? Very few would say yes- but given the choice of ANYWHERE most people would upgrade their living situation right? But... if everyone’s money troubles are solved... what good is your money? If there are 300 students and 30 teachers and staff- and all want to live close to the school but there are only 100 houses nearby.... how do you get the one you want? See what I’m saying? There’s still be a lot to be unhappy about and much would still be more or less what people are unhappy about today.
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TLDR: There are interesting consequences to everyone being able to change their appearances at will, though generally people will still find things to be unhappy about.
TLDR: There are interesting consequences to everyone being able to change their appearances at will, though generally people will still find things to be unhappy about.