Against Happiness Eric Wilson Analysis

Although happiness is key to living a long, healthy life, people should not be happy 100 percent of the time. Eric Wilson argued in his article, Against Happiness, that only by experiencing sadness can people experience the fullness of the human condition (Wilson 456). Many artistic geniuses such as Vincent van Gogh, Emily Dickenson, Charles Schulz, and Woody Allen have all experienced life through a dark glass. Studies show that “when you are in a negative mood, you become more analytical, more critical, and more innovative,” (Diener 456). Negative emotions, such as sadness, have a purpose; to direct human thinking.
“Happiness can be measured,” Richard Layard falsely states. “We can ask a person how they feel. We can ask their friends or observers for an independent assessment. Also, we can now take measurements of the electrical activity in the relevant part of a person’s brain. All of these different measurements give consistent answers about a person’s happiness.” The expression of happiness brainwaves on a graph is an accurate …show more content…
Layard says that happiness can be psychologically measured. Although he is correct, it can be measured, but it is not an answer to what happiness is. Measuring sadness attaches stigma to being sad, making is pathological, which means that it can be cured with a drug. Somewhere in the world there is a pharmaceutical company making a drug that “makes you happier.” This is taking place because it is the American Dream to be happy-go-lucky all of the time, despite a breakup, the death of a family member, or even just the ever-restless. Although, the American Dream is not practical at all. Not all sadness requires treatment because it may interfere with the natural healing process, like reconstituting life out of the pain, (Wakefield 457). By labeling all sadness as depression, many people think that taking a Zoloft or Prozac is going to cure one’s normal emotional