[lo_zamoyski]

This article reads like something from a conversation you might have with an overconfident plumber who had just read an article in "Popular Science". Or someone who lives by IFL Science. Or TED Talks.

Maybe the author should read some old philosophy.

Another way to interpret what's going on is that people often look for happiness in all the wrong places, or confuse pleasure with happiness. In this case, the author is describing people who believe acquisition leads to happiness. He is describing the thrill of the hunt, that anticipation of a reward that isn't there, followed by disappointment because some nebulous misplaced expectation isn't met.

Happiness begins with virtue.