Arthur C. Brooks says Americans are less happy than before, pointing to less religion, fewer marriages and kids, weaker friendships, and remote work replacing in-person connection. He argues happiness isn't fixed: people who feel good take control and make deliberate changes.
Are people actually less happy right now, or is it just that we know so much? We can know and we see what everybody else is doing.
Yeah. The answer to that is that people are less happy than they've been in the past. And there's some reasons for that. People don't practice any spirituality or faith. Family relationships are getting attenuated. People are less likely to get married and have kids. Getting married and having kids, that's like the number one driver of happiness for most people, and it's happening less. People have fewer friendships, and a lot of that has to do with the way that we use technology. Of course, this is one of the biggies. And then of course there's how we relate to our work. And people are, you know, that working on Zoom is not gonna fulfill you in the same way. You need to be around others, right? I mean, it's like, it's where, like, we're sitting in a studio full of people in person. The people who are really happy, they say, okay, what can I change? You can take control, and it's very important to understand that with the, the many, many parts of your life, including your happiness.
