So what? (Score 1)

It seems to me that this book, like most North Americans, equates happiness with a good life. This is ridiculous. Happiness is a by-product, perhaps, of a good life, but it is not the goal.

The goal is truth. What does it matter if you live your whole life a successful Hedonist and then it turns out that the theists were right - maybe you end up in hell for eternity, what does your 'happy' little century mean then? Most people don't care about truth because the truth can be harsh, or even worse, downright confusing.

But then, so can 'happiness'. No one is ever happy all the time, and many people who live at least peaceful lives turn 90 and decide they were never really satisfied. Why? They lack truth. They lack meaning. The job doesn't satisfy. Well jeez, maybe another job will fulfill me...

One can drown out the need to have a meaning for existence in many different things, but they all culminate in a single concept - self-deception. Yes, that's right, we're just one big, deluded nation.
I've got a million silicon slices in front of me and a thousand fantasies at my fingertips - yay for the reality of ignorance. It truly is bliss.