A revolution in happiness rooted in collective action

EVERYBODY wants to be happy. This claim goes as far back as Socrates, if not further, and in the more than 2,000 years since he made it, it has acquired the rare status of something like a universal truth.

Today, evidence of its truth is all around us, in the booming self-help industry, the culture of mood-altering pharmaceutical drugs and even in higher education. A 2018 New York Times article reported that more than a thousand students enrolled in a course at Yale called "Psychology and the Good Life", aimed at teaching students to lead happier, more satisfying lives. In 2014, an enormous online "Science of Happiness" course debuted at the University of California, Berkeley. It continues to thrive.

Books, articles and podcasts dedicated to happiness - especially on how to be happy - abound. Explicitly addressed to individuals rather than groups, they focus on personal happiness, to be enjoyed in the private sphere. Let each and every one be happy!