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6 of the biggest misconceptions about happiness, according to science

Chris WellerOct 20, 2017, 23:07 IST

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Some people see happiness as the feeling in a small moment - a chat between old friends, a warm meal. Some see it as deeply profound, a kind of enlightenment.

Scientists tend to view it another way, namely, as an ongoing state of being that ebbs and flows - but can be controlled based on how people live their lives.

Some of the biggest findings about the science of happiness contradict many people's understandings of how to find joy.

Here are just a handful of those misconceptions.