New theistic chew toys wanted!

[vulcanlogician]

But still, in the modern world there are thousands of books published, TV shows, podcasts, countless songs and careers of tens of thousands of therapists, all devoted to this thing we call "happiness".  It's an obsession.  What I have learned about history tells me that this level of pursuit has never occurred in recorded history and what we mean by happiness may be very different from what anyone in the past was thinking.

I do think you're on to something, Spongebob. While happiness may not be a "modern invention" it still may nonetheless be a "human invention." A kind of illusion that we pursue... and those books, TV shows, fashion magazines that hold up happiness before us are really just manipulating us into buying something. Oftentimes they even forcefully tell us what happiness is: "If you buy our weight loss product, you will be beautiful. And only then will you be happy."

All this being said, I still think that a rational human does want happiness of some kind. But even this "natural" urge toward happiness may be illusory. An artificial construct... hence the ability for magazines and such to manipulate us.

***
Happiness is a myth we seek,
If manifested surely irks;
Like river speeding to the plain,
On its arrival slows and murks.

For man is happy only in
His aspiration to the heights;
When he attains his goal, he cools
And longs for other distant flights.

--Kahlil Gibran