The Conversation

In pursuit of happiness: why some pain helps us feel pleasure

20-02-2015 Author: The Conversation

We need pain to provide a contrast for pleasure.Joshua Stearns/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

The idea that we can achieve happiness by maximising pleasure and minimising pain is both intuitive and popular. The truth is, however, very different. Pleasure alone cannot not make us happy.

Take Christina Onassis, the daughter of shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis....

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