Along these lines, don't the studies in your (OP's) Note 16 (to the effect that happiness is largely heritable and "unmoved by external factors") suggest that efforts to improve happiness are largely futile?
From the Lykken & Tellegen study:
"Happiness or subjective wellbeing was measured on a birth-record based sample of several thousand middle-aged twins using the Well Being (WB) scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Neither socioeconomic status (SES), educational attainment, family income, marital status, nor an... (read more)
Genes might explain the variation in well being via behavioral or attitudinal effects. Since lukeprog's recommendations largely concern ways to modify our behavior and attitudes, there is no inherent contradiction with the genetic research. Behavior and attitudes might be crucial even if heritability % were in the high 90s.
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Along these lines, don't the studies in your (OP's) Note 16 (to the effect that happiness is largely heritable and "unmoved by external factors") suggest that efforts to improve happiness are largely futile?
From the Lykken & Tellegen study:
"Happiness or subjective wellbeing was measured on a birth-record based sample of several thousand middle-aged twins using the Well Being (WB) scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Neither socioeconomic status (SES), educational attainment, family income, marital status, nor an... (read more)