“But if we’re robots, programmed by natural selection to maximise the survival chances of our genes, then maybe“happiness” isn’t the automatic result we’ve always assumed. Personal experiences seem to indicate a problem:“feeling good” has much less to do with our actual situation in life, and much more to do with whether our situation is improving. Pleasures fade and expectations adjust, leaving us always wanting more than we have. Even before we apply the theory of evolution to the problem, there seems to be little doubt that however much control we get over the world we live in, we’re never going to experience more than occasional sensations of bliss. Profound satisfaction is never going to be our constant waking experience.”