Jonathan Rottenberg

Completely.

And, you know, as opposed to the example of the hut, well, you see what the hut looks like.

But the truth is, we don't know what anyone is experiencing.

So we're really in the dark, fundamentally, when we make these comparisons.

All we have are what other people say or what other people look like.

And unfortunately, in our culture, there isn't a lot of transparency about low mood.

People don't want to post on their Facebook profile that

I'm having a low mood day.

And people often don't know how to react when they do post such a thing.

Well, I believe in our contemporary environment, a lot of people have developed very unrealistic goals for themselves.

For example, in young people saying, I'm going to be a billionaire or I'm going to amass wealth.

10 million followers on social media, or I'm going to be the most beautiful so that I will be a fashion model and people will follow me all around the world, that unfortunately, very few people will succeed at these very unrealistic goals.

And consequently, if your happiness is contingent on reaching these goals, you will tend to feel depressed.

Well, the idea of pursuing happiness obviously is very old, and you're right, Thomas Jefferson included that in the Declaration of Independence as a fundamental human aspiration.

I think the question is how to pursue happiness, right?

So is it that happiness is something that you experience along the way as you pursue other things that are meaningful in your life?

So, for example, starting a family or meaningful work?

or helping others?

Or is happiness an end in itself?

Meaning, I want happiness now, and I need to figure out what I will do today to feel happy right now.