Hedonic adaptation is the idea that we get used to stuff.

Soon after you make some improvement to your life you get used to it and it no longer improves your mood.

I think it's important that people realize hedonic adaptation exists, but I also think people can take the idea a little too far.

I've had people object to making cities more beautiful because "people will just get used to it and ignore it." This is of course true to some extent, but it's not entirely true. When you are used to something its impact is dulled, but the impact is not absent. I am used to Western food but I still get pleasure from it. I am used to a cozy bed, but I still get pleasure from it. I am used to Led Zeppelin, but that band still brings me joy.

Adaptation blunts pleasure—it does not eliminate it.