The chapter challenges the simplistic view linking happiness to material possessions and consumption, emphasizing the complexity of human experience. It explores the significance of inner thoughts in shaping well-being and discusses the disconnect between perceptions of happiness and lived emotions.
Can you be too happy? Psychologist Adam Mastroianni talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about our emotional control systems, which seem to work at bringing both sadness and happiness back to a steady baseline. Too much happiness is--perhaps surprisingly--not necessarily a good thing. They also explore whether our general level of happiness is really related to events in our lives or connected to something much larger than ourselves.