Are the Good Things Overrated, and If So, Why? Mike Rappaport

“Happiness is never as good as you imagine it will be, and it never lasts as long as you think it will.” 

That line comes from an article about Daniel Gilbert, who studies happiness at Harvard.  Gilbert has a new book, which seems pretty interesting.

The quote above, I think, is generally true, and is explainable by evolutionary psychology.  We believe that having something will make us happier than it actually will.  This is an inducement for us to do things that generally have survival value, even though they don’t produce long term happiness.  For example, we work harder to achieve income, which promotes our survival and that of our children, even though we may end up just getting used to the higher level of income. 

It also makes sense that the happiness produced by an accomplishment should wane.  Once we have accomplished something, survival value is served by not having us rest on our laurels, but instead by having us accomplish something else.