Just when I was about ready to take responsibility for my own misery, Edinburgh University researchers have determined that happiness is in our genes. Take it away, Dr Alexander Weiss:
Although happiness is subject to a wide range of external influences, we have found that there is a heritable component of happiness.
So not only can we not determine the legitimacy of other people's brain states, apparently now we're only somewhat responsible for our own general dispositions. Studying 1000 sets of twins, the researchers were able to determine that basic happiness is about fifty percent genetic, with the rest being accounted for by external factors such as health, wealth, and relationships (and, presumably, big-screen HDTVs).
Then again, what do the Scots know? They deep fry pizza:
(Link to the study found on the always interesting Freakonomics blog.)
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