THE pursuit of happiness may be your right, but the chances are that complete success will elude you 鈥� which is probably all for the best.
Psychologists studying this intangible quality are starting to realise that happiness does more than simply make us feel good: it also appears to improve our powers of problem-solving and to make us calmer and more resilient too (see 鈥淏e happy鈥�).
But ask people who live comfortable, healthy lives to rate their happiness on a scale up to 10, and scores seldom exceed 8. Why not more? The answer may be that we have evolved to avoid the downside of excessive happiness: gullibility, carelessness and a reduced ability to argue persuasively. The optimum level appears to be around 7, showing once again that you can have too much of a good thing.
Advertisement