EF10 (S1-E8): The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering

Evolve Faster with Scott Ely

Coming from a wealthy family, most others would only dream of the life Alex leads. Every moment is another silver platter where he is handed all the best education, can have his pick of expensive items and to experience seemingly infinite joys. Although grateful for everything, Alex can't shake the reality he isn't happy or fulfilled by any of this at all—nor could he really even define what happiness would look like for him. But why? What could possibly be missing when having everything you want? “It's not about the destination; it's about the journey.” This trite expression is one of the modern favorites in a bin of overused cliches we tell ourselves when we start to lack that next hit of happiness. But is it really trite or just misunderstood? Being a cliche doesn't necessarily make something wrong. Instead, that comes when we don’t actually change things in order to live by the message of such wise life lessons. From Ancient India and Greece, to modern Western Culture, we can find countless theories on what happiness is and how to attain it. So why is our ability to attain it no better today—and, by some measures, on the decline—even after thousands of years of intellectual progress?