Happiness

Research shows that happier people are healthier, more successful, harder-working, caring and more socially engaged. Misery makes people self-obsessed and inactive.

These are the conclusions of a burgeoning happiness industry that has published 3,000 papers, set up a Journal of Happiness Studies and created a World Database of Happiness in the last few years

Once upon a time, Freud famously wrote:

"... the intention that man should be happy is not included in the plan of Creation"

(http://www.borntomotivate.com/FamousQuote_SigmundFreud.html)

On the same page he also says "Devout believers are safeguarded in a high degree against the risk of certain neurotic illnesses; their acceptance of the universal neurosis spares them the task of constructing a personal one." Excellent, this is one of the major benefits of religion to the individual that I see and something that I've been trying to verbalize for a long time, spot on. But that's another story.

:-)

+++

Five days ago my daughter and I watched William Shatner at a sci-fi convention here in the UK signing autographs. He was charging £25 ($40) a pop and doing 400/min - a fact which the organizers told me, along with the fact that £25 was great value - I did not get one however. 400*40 = errr, that's a tidy sum, and he was there for three days. He's a big fella, permanent smile, bon vivant, I could clearly see that he was Jim. I accept your conclusion that science is limited because of him!