It is interesting to me that when ever a discussion on happiness arises, two points are always brought up. The first is almost always stated as "Happiness is different for everyone," while the second is always a restatement of the phrase "Money can't buy happiness." What strikes me as interesting is that no one understands the logical fallacy presented here. How can we state that we don't know everything about happiness but in an instant sweep secular happiness off the table. If one was to take a survey of the homeless in America, I assume the results would be heavily shifted to the unhappy. What these people are saying is that its the homeless man's fault for being unhappy. Getting him back on his feet won't make him happy, he just needs to change the way he thinks. This is a backwards way of thinking and anyone who believes it is being pretencion.
This idea, Real Happiness vs. False Happiness, is in essence a form of elitism. It is one group of people feeling superior to another because they are "happy" without the advantage of money. I find it akin to summiting your local hill without bottled oxygen and considering it a victory.
Happiness itself is a private experience and as such any study of it is anecdotal at best. To each his own, yeah?
-Nate
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