What has been learned is both familiar and surprising. It is surprising, for instance, that despite problems and tragedies, all over the World individuals tend to describe themselves as much happier than unpleasant. In American, typically thirty percent of respondents say that they are very happy, and only ten percent say that they are not too happy. The majority rate themselves above the halfway marks, as pretty happy. Similar results are reported from dozens of other countries. How can this be, when thinkers through the ages, reflecting on how short and painful life can be, have always told us that the World is a value of doom and gloom and people are foolish and ghoulish, and that individuals are not made to be happy? Perhaps the reason for the discrepancy is that prophets and philosophers tend to be perfectionists, and the imperfections of life tend to offend them. Whereas the rest of humankind is glad to be alive, imperfections and all. Of course there is a more pessimistic explanation, namely, that when people say they are pretty happy they are deceiving either the researcher who is conducting the study, or more likely, they are fooling themselves into believing they are happy. For instance, a factor worker can feel he is perfectly happy, but this subjective happiness is a self-deception that means nothing because objectively the worker is alienated by the system that exploits his labour.

Most people live with false consciousness, pretending even to themselves that they are living in the best of all possible Worlds. What people tell us does not always reflect real events, but mostly a style of narrative, a way of talking that refers only to itself. While these critiques of self-perception illuminate important issues that have to be recognized, they also suffer from the intellectual arrogance of scholars who believe their interpretations of reality should take precedence over the direct experience of the multitude. Dr. Harris believes that when an individual says he is pretty happy, one has the right to ignore his statement, or interpret it to mean the opposite. Also, the relationship between material well-being and happiness is not as strong as many believe it to be. There is actually a weak relationship between finances and satisfaction with life; billionaires in America are only infinitesimally (extremely small) happier than those with average incomes. Furthermore, while personal income in the United States of America more than doubled between the 1960s and 2016 in constant dollars, the proportion of people saying they are very happy remained a steady thirty percent. One conclusion that the research seems to justify is that beyond the threshold of poverty, additional resources do not appreciably improve the chances of being happy.  However, a number of personal qualities are related to how happy people describe themselves to me. For instance, a healthy extrovert with a strong self-esteem, a stable marriage, and religious faith will be much more likely to say he is happy than a chronically ill, introverted, and divorced atheist with low self-esteem. 

How we feel is an essential part of our emotions. A woman who says she is happy to work two jobs to keep a roof over her children’s head is probably, in fact, happier than a woman who does not see why she should have to bother with even a single job. However, happiness is certainly not the only emotion worth considering. In fact, if one wants to improve the quality of everyday life, happiness may be the wrong place to start. In the first place, self-reports of happiness do not vary from person to person as much as other feelings do; no matter how empty a life otherwise might be, most individuals will be reluctant to admit being unhappy. Furthermore, this emotion is more of an individual characteristic than a situational one. Basically, some people come to think of themselves as happy regardless of external conditions, while others will become used to feeling relatively less happy no matter what happens to them. Some people can have a beautiful home, great job, nice car, and still be jealous because someone else seems to be better off. Other feelings are much more influences by what one does, who one is with, or the place once happens to be. For instance, a people living in a million-dollar home may have killed their former husband to afford the house and deep down inside knows what she did was wrong, and cannot truly enjoy the luxurious lifestyle. Whereas someone who is one paycheck away from being homeless and always alone might be happier because, no matter what, he kept his morals and earned his lifestyle and more. Still, moods are more amenable to direct change, and because they are also connected to how happy we feel, in the long run they might lift our average level of happiness. For instance, how active, strong, and alert we feel depends a lot on what we do—these feelings become more intense when we are involved with a difficult task, and they get more attenuated when we fail at what we try to do, or when we do not try to do anything.

So these feelings can be directly affected why what we choose to do or what happens to us. When we feel active and strong, we are also more likely to feel happy, so that in time the choice of what we do will also affect out happiness. Similarly, most people feel they are more cheerful and sociable when they are with others than when they are alone. Again, cheerfulness and sociability are related to happiness, which probably explains why extroverts on the average tend to be happier than introverts. Extroverts are reaching out for things to increase their happiness, whereas introverts tend to take the cards that life deals them. The quality of life does not depend on happiness alone, but also on what one does to be happy. If one fails to develop goals that give meaning to one’s existence, if one does not use the mind to its fullest, then good feelings fulfill just a fraction of the potential we possess. A person who achieves contentment by withdrawing from the World to cultivate his own garden, cannot be said to lead an excellent life. Without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved. Time and time against the wind I think, I feel with all your worthy peculiar friends with time to kill. Now all your reasons pushed, pulled, sidetracked and your mouth, these words start to gasp, and, in your head, feelings corked up and bottled you want to be adored. You might ne, you might fall, you will be a waterfall. Mixed and confused, like a mulatto on the loose, I think I feel it too. You are my World. Possible, that it could all be wonderful, sweet the sound, as all the stars come crashing down, but I will wait for you, meet me in the blue. Afterglow, somethings you just do not need to know. I came crashing in, battered your heart and bruised your shins, but I will wait for you, if you ask me to. The day is calling you, roll out and start anew. Wipe your weary eyes, and tumble out of the sky.