I have noticed lately that we are living in what might be considered a technological utopia by the majority of our ancestors. However, people tend to nearly instantly take new enabling technologies for granted. People are generally just as stressed about their jobs despite the fact that they need relatively little money to achieve to obtain a relatively high level of material wealth by historical standards. Everybody remains just as unhappy and un-actualized. It's a relatively common trope in science fiction to depict a highly technological future where everybody is just as stressed and unhappy as they are now.

This TED talk in particular was illuminating to me:

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

I think this was the last straw in eradicating my belief that merely improving people's standard of living will make them happier.