the.com/unhappiness
The tax your brain charges for comparing real life to an imaginary one.
means The state of not being happy — a persistent dissatisfaction or sorrow with how things are.
from Straightforward Old English carpentry: 'un-' (not) bolted onto 'happy,' which itself comes from 'hap,' meaning luck or chance — the same root you hear in 'happen' and 'mishap.' So to be happy originally meant being favored by fortune, and unhappiness meant fortune had turned its back on you. Only later did 'happy' drift from 'lucky' to 'feeling good inside,' dragging its negative along with it.
- not opposite of happiness
- different brain networks, not a dial
- hedonic adaptation
- even lottery winners return to baseline fast
- rumination fuel
- replaying problems feels productive, rarely is
- useful signal
- evolved to flag unmet needs, not punish you