I don't know why the study paints this as being a strange outcome. This outcome makes sense to me intuitively. Perhaps because we confuse momentary happiness (having fun!) with prolonged mental wellbeing. They are somewhat related to each other, but are not a causal or necessarily even a correlative relationship.
I've never really understood the point of smalltalk (beyond social things where you don't really know anyone). If I'm going to be having a conversation, I like it to be about something. I think having a meaningful conversation signifies that you are actually interested in the other person and interested in knowing what they think. If you think about it from that perspective, that you are actually making deep interpersonal relationships with the people around you, of course you will be happier. The person making smalltalk with a hundred people is someone who is still lonely in some aspect of the term.
It also makes sense in that discussing and thinking about 'deep' issues, you are becoming more knowledgeable about yourself. People who know more about themselves are going to be better able to please themselves (fill their lives with things that make them happy), because they actually know what they like (and what they are like).
Substantive conversations make for a substantive lives. And substantive lives are more enjoyable than empty ones.
This study is sort of just be rediscovering the Platonic theory of pleasure. (Sensual, Esthetic, and Ideal pleasures).
Moral of the story, read Plato (talk about it), be happy.
I've never really understood the point of smalltalk (beyond social things where you don't really know anyone). If I'm going to be having a conversation, I like it to be about something. I think having a meaningful conversation signifies that you are actually interested in the other person and interested in knowing what they think. If you think about it from that perspective, that you are actually making deep interpersonal relationships with the people around you, of course you will be happier. The person making smalltalk with a hundred people is someone who is still lonely in some aspect of the term.
It also makes sense in that discussing and thinking about 'deep' issues, you are becoming more knowledgeable about yourself. People who know more about themselves are going to be better able to please themselves (fill their lives with things that make them happy), because they actually know what they like (and what they are like).
Substantive conversations make for a substantive lives. And substantive lives are more enjoyable than empty ones.
This study is sort of just be rediscovering the Platonic theory of pleasure. (Sensual, Esthetic, and Ideal pleasures).
Moral of the story, read Plato (talk about it), be happy.