How to Reduce Expectations of Happiness

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Economists have discovered that feeling rich doesn't depend on income, but on meeting expectations. Surrounding someone with richer people can make them miserable. Similarly, happiness is connected to what we consider normal. Lowering our expectations can actually make us happier, even though it seems paradoxical.

Author Alain de Botton talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his latest book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. How has the nature of work changed with the increase in specialization? Why is the search for meaningful work a modern phenomenon? Has the change in the workplace changed parenting? Why does technology become invisible? These are some of the questions discussed by de Botton in a wide-ranging discussion of the modern workplace and the modern worker.