Author Explains Why Happy Americans Lead to Cultural Downfall

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 28, 2008 at 10:29 AM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Are Americans too happy? One man explains why we spend too much energy trying to be happy. Author Eric G. Wilson talks about his book Against Happiness.

Tom Fudge: Unhappiness gets a bad name in the United States. We're a happy county, after all. A poll by the Pew Research Center indicates that 85% of Americans are either happy or very happy. Is that depressing or what?! I guess I should not say that Eric Wilson considers that depressing news, but he does feel like we spend too much time and energy, and ingest too many chemicals, trying to be happy. Eric is certainly right that we shouldn't expect our moods to be up all the time. Also, Wilson says melancholy is one of the human world's truly constructive emotions. He says it allows us to strive for something better, to see beauty, and to... do some other stuff.

Guest

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Eric G. Wilson, author of the book Against Happiness and a literature professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Author Explains Why Happy Americans Lead to Cultural Downfall

Are Americans too happy? One man explains why we spend too much energy trying to be happy. Author Eric G. Wilson talks about his book Against Happiness.

Are Americans too happy? One man explains why we spend too much energy trying to be happy. Author Eric G. Wilson talks about his book Against Happiness.