

Dan Gilbert: Why are we happy? [video] - nostrademons
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/97

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nostrademons
A lot of this has already appeared in the popular press, but this is a lecture
by a Harvard psychologist responsible for much of the research. He's funny &
punchy, and generally quite enjoyable to watch.

Aside from the experiments, I thought the bit about how freedom was the enemy
of happiness was pretty interesting. Among other things, it explains the
reaction to PG's essays: in order to maintain their happiness, they have to
believe that they're stuck in a boring corporate job and have no other
options. Otherwise, they have a choice, and with that choice comes regret, and
with regret comes unhappiness. So PG is really spreading unhappiness the world
over. ;-) His essays only resonate with those who _already_ know they have a
choice, because we're not going to become more unhappy about it, and it might
inspire us to actually try it.

Also explains why the 20s can be such an emotional wasteland - coming out of
college, we have so many possible choices, and nearly all of them are
reversible.

