Why learning, not rewards, may be the key to happiness

Dr Bastien Blain (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) co-authors an article on his new research, which finds how we learn about our world may be more important for how we feel than the rewards we actually receive. Our obsession with happiness isn't as modern as it may seem. Philosophers from Aristotle to Jeremy Bentham have all argued that subjective wellbeing is crucial. Bentham even suggested that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong". This approach informs the policies of many nations who deploy population measures of wellbeing. But the goal of increasing societal happiness has proved difficult to achieve. This is in part because it is difficult to determine what factors are most relevant for happiness.