Daniel Kahneman gives a great TED talk helping people understand there is a difference between “in the moment” happiness and the happiness of your memory of the moment and you cannot optimize them both.  He goes on to say that people more often try to optimize their memory happiness (would you go on a vacation where you were guaranteed to have a great time but would remember none of it?).  But he questions whether this should be people’s bias.  After all, how much time do you spend consuming your memories versus living in the moment?  A very thought provoking talk.  I recommend watching it.

Here are some fun charts on happiness as we age and in different states.  I’m going into the nadir of happiness age wise, but at least I live in a happy state!

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And if you needed any additional information on the negatives of smoking, here is some data broken out by income.  Also not how little increase there is in happiness after income goes above $60K.

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