[riversflow]

> Generally the people who were most concerned about others well-being were gifted with a light and pleasant demeanour

Kinda like the light and pleasant demeanor of Robin Williams? This is crazy ovservation bias, you have no idea of the actual, lived experiences of these people. Honestly, my experience is that people who really suffer with depression are consistently some of the nicest, most thoughtful people. They understand how shitty it is to be down and do as much as they are capable of to try and stop the spread and help themselves, and being appreciative and positive are, as you point out, pretty excellent at making one feel better. People who are constant downers and negative, in my experience, are more self-obsessed and trying to get something.

[migro23]

Completely agree. My views stated above however don't rest purely on these observations because the data (my observations) are inherently noisy. A certain amount of inference needs to be made based on direct behavioural observation of others and with any inference comes a margin of uncertainty. I outlined these observations in response to someone who seemed to object or disagree with my original comment but gave very little in terms of supporting argument. But my views on these matters do not solely rest on observations of others but also by my own experience as a conscious and self aware (I think :) being and reading about the ideas of what others think about this issue of "happiness".

Disclaimer: I don't think my original comment is correct in any absolute sense, but I do believe that it is a more promising and fruitful direction than merely perusing pleasure for its own sake, based on my own experience and the observed behavioral and emotional patterns of some of my most intimate relationships