Hi!

I didn’t write anything specific about this, but maybe I should.. :-P

Well, the problem with contrasts, is that it’s impossible to “experiment” without them. We cannot “exit” the field of experimentation and observe it from the outside, as a “neutral” observer as a good scientist/researcher should do.

You mention the sensation of being full vs. being hungry. Well, one way to experience this is to remove your stomach and intestines and receive food/liquids via an intravenous way, directly into your blood stream. You won’t feel either being full or being hungry…

The real problem with contrasts is that you can’t “test” to see if it works without them. You can’t “test” what it feels like to not be hungry since the sensation of fullness/hunger is a gradation and not a binary feeling. And it’s the same with happiness/sadness. There are a near infinite “nuances” and shades of emotion between these “absolutes”. When you’re full, wait 30 minutes, and you’re already a bit less full. Wait another 30 and you may have a craving for a snack, wait another 30 minutes… You get the point…

So in other words, the reason why you know you are happy, is thanks to the moments where you are a “bit less happy”. It’s like a wave. You recognize you are at the peak of the wave thanks to the crests. That doesn’t mean you have to be sad to be happy! Just that you are a little less happy… which is the same thing really… :-D

You give a bum in the street a bowl of rice, he’s jumping for joy. That’s definitely a “peak” from his perspective. You are served a bowl of plain rice by your mom, and you are sad and disappointed and wonder what you did wrong to receive such a frugal meal.

So it’s contrast and the relativity principle: everything is relative to something else.

Hope this helped clarify a bit! :-)