I had cynically been wondering about the benefits Google might be trying to reap from this angle. The obvious one is good PR. The second is to lull the general concern around ethical conduct of the big tech companies. Perhaps less likely is an attempt to preempt mass flight from their services thanks to some kind of social movement to ditch tech that they might become collateral of.

The less cynical view is that Google is made of people, and people generally want to do good. Perhaps there are simply some influential people in the org that are interested in these kinds of things.

Emphasis on feel happier and healthier; it’s enough for the perception to exist without the reality for Google’s purposes.

You're making no sense. What does it mean to "feel happier" but not be happier?

> What does it mean to "feel happier" but not be happier?

is this an honest question?

an alcoholic while drunk might "feel happier" while not being happier. a drug addict might "feel happier" while high, but not be happier.

I don't understand this, are you defining feelings of happiness based on some sort of average over time? If so, what is the period and how is it determined?

I think great great gp is using "feel[ing] happier" in the sense of achieving higher baseline happiness, not maximizing the "happiness level" of an instant.

> I think great great gp is using "feel[ing] happier" in the sense of achieving higher baseline happiness, not maximizing the "happiness level" of an instant.

I might be misreading who you mean by "great great gp", but I don't think scottie_m thinks that google is raising the happiness baseline. At least that's not how I interpret

> it’s enough for the perception to exist without the reality for Google’s purposes.

Anyway, that's enough speculation about speculation for me for one day.

I was referring to my post's great great grandparent which was authored by spuz and contained the first use of the phrase whose meaning we're trying to nail down here:

> It makes sense for Google to want their customers to feel happier and healthier because they can be more productive, earn more money and ultimately spend that money on products that Google advertises.

(emphasis added)