Pleasure vs. Happiness – Feb 25

The Declaration of Independence proclaims our right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but not to the pursuit of pleasure. What is the neurological difference between these two positive emotions of happiness and pleasure? Has society's exploitation of pleasure systematically weakened our grasp on happiness? What has caused the twin epidemics of these emotions' negative extremes: addiction (from too much pleasure) and depression (from too little happiness)?

Our speaker, Dr. Robert Lustig, is Professor Emeritus of pediatric endocrinology at UC San Francisco. His new book, The Hacking of the American Mind, explores the scientific, cultural, historic, economic, and social causes of our modern problem with pleasure.