Do You Know What Makes You Happy?

According to an essay in the Boston Globe, probably not. This is a really interesting article that basically explains that people are really bad at understanding what makes them happy. For example if you could choose to cure blindess or minor backpain, most people would say blindness. However once people are used to their lack of sight, it does not have much of an effect on overall happiness. The chronic pain on the other hand can lead to significant decreases in happiness.

"In recent years, cognitive scientists have turned in increasing numbers to the study of human happiness, and one of their central findings is that we are not very good at predicting how happy or unhappy something will make us. Given time, survivors of tragedies and traumas report themselves nearly as happy as they were before, and people who win the lottery or achieve lifelong dreams don't see any long-term increase in happiness. By contrast, annoyances like noise or chronic pain bring down our happiness more than you'd think, and having friends or an extra hour of sleep every night can raise it dramatically.