We tend to believe that the rare but meaningful experiences – such as seeing our children smile for the first time or graduating from university or getting married – would give us massive increases in our happiness. And indeed they do, but these boosts in well-being, often to our surprise, tend not to last for very long.As I've told my classes for years, those who win the lottery are no happier five years after winning it than they were before winning the lottery.
Unlike having kids, that's a proposition I'd like to test.
Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan
I read your header quite differently than you. I do not read it as asking if it is necessary to have children to make a person happy. I read it as tho (for example) you were asking me if having my children made/makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteSee, this is how statements during the recent campaign became so distorted and twisted out of shape. Or even how comparing one's bowling abilities to the Special Olympics can get so twisted out of proportion.