Life’s simple pleasures vastly overrated

It’s life’s simple pleasures that matter, we are so often told – the smile on the face of a baby, the silent majesty of sunrise, the gentle trickling of a stream. However, a new study has revealed that these simple so-called pleasures are actually vastly overrated and nowhere near as good as going on a speedboat, or being a popstar.

“I’ve always been intrigued by this claim that it’s life’s simple pleasures that really matter,” explained Dr Simon Williams, Professor of Life and All That at Oxford University.

“I was sceptical. I mean, what’s really so great about a nice view? So, I created a simple survey. I asked people if they’d rather listen to the sound of rain on the window or have a Lamborghini. Overwhelmingly, People would prefer the Lamborghini.

“I mean, it’s obvious when you think about it. A Lamborghini is a high-performance, magnificently engineered sports car worth hundreds of thousands of pounds whereas rain on the window is just some rain.”

Intrigued by the results, Dr Williams then created a more extensive study, asking thousands of people whether they’d prefer a nice cup of tea, a walk in the woods, snoozing after the alarm has gone off or if they’d rather be a playboy millionaire, go out with a supermodel, have the latest Playstation 5 with loads of games.

“Just 4% of respondents picked the simple pleasures,” said Dr Williams.

“And, to be honest, I think those respondents were probably a bit simple. I mean, you’d have to be a bit funny in the head to prefer a cup of tea to the latest Playstation 5. Have you seen that new Assassin’s Creed game? It looks amazing.”

Dr Williams hopes the results of the study will help people moderate their expectations when it comes to life’s simple pleasures.

“Look, there’s nothing wrong with a sunny day or the smell of freshly cooked bread. Just don’t expect it to be as good as owning your own jet plane.”

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