Zoe can stop buying those lottery tickets — turns out that (surprise!) money can’t buy you happiness. In fact, many of the things society associates with happiness — health, good looks, career success — are not as important as our relationships with one another, says Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times:
Men are no happier than women, and people in sunny areas no happier than people in chillier climates. The evidence on health is complex, but even chronic health problems (like those requiring dialysis) may have surprisingly little long-term effect on happiness, because we adjust to them. Beautiful people aren’t happier than ugly people, although cosmetic surgery does seem to leave patients feeling brighter. Whites are happier than blacks, but only very slightly. And young people are actually a bit less happy than older folks, at least up to age 65.
Lorna has a few advantages over Richard. She has less stress and is respected by her peers — factors that make us feel good. Happiness is tied to volunteering and to giving blood, and people with religious faith tend to be happier than those without. A solid marriage is linked to happiness, as is participation in social networks. And one study found that people who focus on achieving wealth and career advancement are less happy than those who focus on good works, religion or spirituality, or friends and family.
“Human beings are in some ways like bees,” Professor Haidt said. “We evolved to live in intensely social groups, and we don’t do as well when freed from hives.”
I know, you’re all shocked. Kristoff goes on to suggest that human beings are “hard-wired to be altruistic”; researchers found that pleasure centers in the brain usually associated with eating or sex also lit up when subjects thought about giving to charity. Looks like there’s something to that “in giving we receive” dictum after all.
(H/t Rod Dreher)
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