To really appreciate that line, you got to read it with Marvin the Paranoid Android‘s voice in your head. This is my lead for an article in Scienfitic American about the fleeting nature of elevated happiness:
An experimental psychologist investigating the possibility of lasting happiness, Lyubomirsky understands far better than most of us the folly of pinning our hopes on a new car–or on any good fortune that comes our way. We tend to adapt, quickly returning to our usual level of happiness. The classic example of such “hedonic adaptation” comes from a 1970s study of lottery winners, who a year after their windfall ended up no happier than nonwinners. Hedonic adaptation helps to explain why even changes in major life circumstances–such as income, marriage, physical health and where we live–do so little to boost our overall happiness. Not only that, but studies of twins and adoptees have shown that about 50 percent of each person’s happiness is determined from birth. This “genetic set point” alone makes the happiness glass look half empty, because any upward swing in happiness seems doomed to fall back to near your baseline.
If you’re an optimistic person, you can take solace in the fact that this process presumably works in both directions: no matter how crappy the hole cards you get dealt in that big Texas Holdem game called life, by the time you hit the river, you’ll be looking up.
On the other hand, if you prefer to see the downside, consider this: you’ll never be much happier than you are at this instant. Someone could hand you $10 million, and a month from now you’d find something to complain about.
I’m guessing that this article isn’t going to be reproduced in any casino promotional material any time soon. Why go through all thr trouble of coming down to gamble when you can get 2X points if it won’t make you happier in the end?