I found chapter four to be interesting because I also think the idea of measuring happiness is questionable. During chapter four Haybron discussed the problems with measuring happiness and examples of how it's been measured as well as the aspects that were measured.
One thing that really stood out to me in this chapter was how Haybron said that most of these measures leave a lot to be desired, since most people have different thought processes on what it means to be happy. He also believed that most people may be exaggerating their level of happiness. Which I definitely think is a possible factor, considering today that one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. is suicide. Often it's been found that most suicide victims appear to be happy, so personally I do believe that the results of these studies are most likely skewed.
Overall, I feel like something like happiness is very difficult to measure because all of our brains are wired differently. With fluctuating hormones or possible mental disturbances I feel like it's impossible for a study to measure the happiness level of the general population. Let alone make a blanket statement that 94% or more Americans claim to be happy like the 1995 study did. I also question the demographic of Americans that this survey was conducted on.
Well, it's easy to measure how many people SAY they're happy... but that's not particularly useful to know. On the other hand, specific questions about when each of us feels most at home in our skin and in our world may yield insight. Can't hurt to ask.
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