As far as I can tell, most people are unhappy if they're not feeling productive. Sure, it's nice to relax and do nothing for a bit, but not for very long. Retirees need to find a hobby or they quickly become sad and lonely.
One of the best ways to be happy is to spend time in a foreign country where you don't speak the language (or not well). You'll feel productive and accomplished for basic tasks like ordering your preference for dinner or figuring out how to work the laundry machine even though the instructions don't have any pictures. Yet there's very little consequence for failure. Once you get the hang of basic things, you can always focus on learning the language, but that takes actual work.
> As far as I can tell, most people are unhappy if they're not feeling productive.
That's the hypothesis that these basic income trials are hoping to prove. Do people suddenly start working, even if they don't have to?
I think it's also a matter of community. If you suddenly get a basic income and your friends don't, you might get pretty lonely and bored. Whereas if you had lived for a longer time with a larger community of people who don't have to sell their labor, you might find yourself engaged in projects you wouldn't have invented yourself.
One of the best ways to be happy is to spend time in a foreign country where you don't speak the language (or not well). You'll feel productive and accomplished for basic tasks like ordering your preference for dinner or figuring out how to work the laundry machine even though the instructions don't have any pictures. Yet there's very little consequence for failure. Once you get the hang of basic things, you can always focus on learning the language, but that takes actual work.