We all want to be happy but the problem has always been that you can't measure happiness.
Happiness has always been seen as too vague a concept, as Lord Layard, Professor of Economics at the LSE and author of "Happiness - lessons from a new science" points out.
"There is a problem with the word happiness.
"When you use the word happy, it often has the sort of context of balloons floating up into the sky or something frivolous."
Now scientists say they can actually measure happiness.
Neuroscientists are measuring pleasure. They suggest that happiness is more than a vague concept or mood; it is real.
Unhappiness
However, there are also many things we experience in life that can produce lasting unhappiness.
Professor Ed Diener identifies two key events which can have lasting effects.
After the loss of a spouse it can take several years to regain the previous level of well-being.
The loss of a job can affect a person for years even they are back to work.
So if you are born grumpy are you always going to be grumpy?
The question of whether we can actually use our knowledge of what makes us happy to lift our levels of happiness permanently is hotly debated by psychologists.
According to the positive psychologist Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania it is possible to lift our biological set range of happiness, at least to some extent if we work at it.
"The best you can do with positive emotion is you can get people to live at the top of their set range.
"So I think you've got about 10 to 15% leverage but you can't take a grouch and make him giggle all the time."
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