Silver Web Journal

Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. Its contents, as much literature as science, offer profound insight into the human condition—and into the brilliant, complex mind of the study’s longtime director, George Vaillant.

Dear Mr. Shenk:

I would like to offer my comments regarding your recent article entitled, “What Makes Us Happy?” In this article, you examined a study of 268 men and claimed that it provided “profound insight into the human condition”. I would respectfully disagree. The study may indeed provide the general public with insight into a certain class of men, but it does not provide us with insight into the human condition, as it completely lacks an entire half of the human race — women.

I can’t help but wonder how your article would have been written had the study been of 268 women. Would you have made the same sweeping generalizations about the “human” desire for happiness? Would you have claimed that the lives and experiences of 268 women were representative of all human beings — both men and women?

With all due respect, drawing wide conclusions about the human condition based on a subset of college-educated men is illogical at best. At worst, it renders women invisible and equates the term “man” with “human”, something that I, as a member of the human race, find offensive and insulting.

I hope that you will consider these comments the next time you decide to write on “human” nature.