Darrin McMahon explains how the ancient Greeks thought happiness was linked to luck.

He notes that in demanding happiness, people may think something is wrong with them or others if they are not happy. Mister McMahon sees the pressure to be happy as actually creating unhappiness.

you can have a better understanding of the idea of happiness.

And he traveled to Iceland because studies show that it is one of the happiest nations in the world.

For example, a person might think that buying a new car would make him or her happy even though the last car the person bought did not. So, events that we believe will bring us happiness bring us less than we think. And, events we fear will make us unhappy make us less unhappy than we believe. The book provides valuable information on the surprising ways in which our minds work. Here is a recording of Mister Gilbert talking about this “impact bias.” It was taken from the Big Think Web site.

greatest happiness for the greatest number

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Bob Doughty.

And I’m Faith Lapidus. You can read and listen to our programs on our Web site, ChinaVOA.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

http://www.tingclass.com/voa/voaspe4308.html

This set of information includes how to define and measure happiness. It also includes happiness averages in countries around the world and compares that information through time.